A War For Revenge
by PinkRose0106
Summary: Grima's defeated. The world is at peace. But as everyone knows, war is never far away, since even peaceful times can cause chaos... Eisso, his sister Kenzie (both OCs), and many of the Shepherd's children rise to defeat the group of people that threaten the lasting peace. (Rated T for violence and minor language. Read and review, please!)
1. Prologue

(A/N: This story features the 'current' next-gen kids—the ones that were born during or after the events of Awakening. The adults—when they are shown—may mention some things that happened through the course of the game, but their children won't because they were too young at the time to remember, however they may mention the things that their parents told them. To reflect my other FE stories, the Prologue will—hopefully—be a good chunk of the content of a later chapter, with a few things changed. There will be some out-of-character moments, actions, and dialogue for the canon characters as well, since that's how I've grown accustomed to writing them. But that should be all for now. On with the story!)

The room was dim. The candles were the only source of light in the tent. He was hurt; he knew that. But he also knew that he couldn't just…sit still. Not like this.

"H-hold still, Eisso…I can't tend to your wounds if you keep squirming!"

His sister was scolding him. He knew that much. In truth…the whole world seemed to be getting darker.

"Eisso, stop moving! Do you want to die?"

"Of…of course not…" Eisso muttered. "But…I can't sit here."

"It'll only take a few moments," Kenzie assured him.

Eisso nodded—even that small movement hurt. Kenzie started dressing his wounds.

"You can't be so reckless," Kenzie said. "Ocielle would never let me live it down if…if we lost you."

"Well," Eisso said, "I'm not dead yet. So…yay?"

"Don't be foolish! You're an idiot sometimes! You almost died, Eisso. Do I need to spell it out for you?" Kenzie said, getting louder.

"N-no," Eisso replied. "Just…don't let everyone hear you yelling at me."

"Sometimes you deserve to have a bad rumor or two about you," Kenzie said. She stepped back, Eisso's entire arm covered in bandages. They were almost red already. "But you're done. Please be more careful. I can't lose my brother."

"I won't die until I have your permission," Eisso promised.

Kenzie nodded, seeming satisfied. "Just come back to me if you start to feel dizzy. And don't get too close to anyone, okay?"

"Sure," Eisso said. He was feeling better already. He just…had to pretend that his arm wasn't bleeding. He picked up his tome, and went back to the battlefield.

Suffice to say, it was pure chaos. He could easily pick out his friends, though. Hopefully they could last a little bit longer.

Eisso found Morgan first. "How are we doing?" He asked.

Morgan turned to face him. "Eisso! I'm glad to see that you're okay." He examined Eisso, but his eyes lingered at the latter's bandaged, bloody arm. "Er, mostly okay." He paused for a few moments. "But to answer your question, well…it could be better. But we're almost done."

"No one else is hurt?" Eisso asked.

"No one else is hurt," Morgan confirmed. "I haven't seen anything more than a few scratches. Nothing fatal."

"Good," Eisso said. At least his friends were doing alright. "Where do you need me?"

Morgan surveyed the battlefield. "I was going to help Lucina once you came out. Can you keep Kenzie out of harm's way? There's not that much enemies here, but it wouldn't take much to—"

"I can defend my sister," Eisso replied. "You go help Lucina."

Morgan gave a quick, firm nod and left Eisso alone with the battlefield in front of him and a small array of tents behind him.

Every now and then, Eisso would use his magic to finish off an enemy that got too close. Everyone was protecting the camp. Whatever enemies made it past that line were weak enough for Eisso to stop without much effort.

Within the hour, Eisso didn't see a single enemy standing. He watched for a few moments as everyone started coming to the main healer's tent, then he turned behind him to see Kenzie coming out.

"It's over?" She asked.

"This battle is," Eisso said. "But…the war isn't. Not yet."

"It will end one day," Kenzie replied softly. "And then we'll be able to laugh about all of this."

"Right," Eisso said. He really hoped that she was right.


	2. Chapter 1: A Story's Beginning

Eisso watched as Ocielle, his childhood babysitter and current landlord-of-sorts, used her bow to hit some targets he had set out earlier. His adoptive older sister, Kenzie, was inside making lunch, which saved him the worry of accidentally hitting her once he took a turn.

"Okay, kid," Ocielle said. "Try your best." She sat down her bow and tossed him an arrow, which he caught clumsily. "Only aim for the target. Don't do anything stupid. And never aim it towards yourself or an ally; even if you wanted to wait for the damn squirrel to leave the tree."

"I only did that once," Eisso said. He walked over to the bow and tried to do exactly what Ocielle had just shown him.

"I don't have the patience to be your mother," Ocielle replied. "Shoot this arrow and let me get back to work, or you're going back onto the streets like you were when your father died."

The comment made Eisso lose his focus—hopefully that was the point, and she didn't actually mean it. He fiddled around with the bow too much, almost dropping it.

"Weak," Ocielle muttered. She started walking inside after she said, "Put my bow away when you're done. Then you and your sister can do whatever until dinner."

Eisso nodded silently. As soon as Ocielle went inside, he let himself lay on the grass. Mother had taught him magic, and after she died, Ylisse's tactician Robin offered to teach him—and to this day, she still was. He had asked Ocielle to teach him how to use a bow, but it's been months and he's been doing horribly. He needed to stop bugging her; Ocielle didn't have the patience for slow-learners such as himself. Eisso probably would've had better luck taming a horse and wielding a sword.

Kenzie came out with two sandwiches. Eisso sat up, letting her sit beside him.

"No luck?" She asked, handing him a sandwich.

Eisso shook his head. "No one ever said Ocielle would be a good teacher," he replied. After a short pause, he added, "She…mentioned Father."

"She was just trying to get under your skin," Kenzie said. "She probably didn't mean it."

"What if she did?" Eisso said.

"Ocielle is many things, but she isn't cruel," Kenzie replied. "As long as one of us is helpful, she'll let us both stay."

Eisso didn't want to argue. He started eating his lunch. In between bites, he said, "Ocielle gave me permission to wander around until dinner. I was going to go to Ylisstol—would you like to come with me?" They didn't live that far from the capital; about an hour's walk. Normally they rented horses or carriages to make the trip shorter.

"Sure," Kenzie replied. "I'll need to change, though. And it looks like you still need to clean up from training."

"In thirty minutes, we'll leave," Eisso decided. He finished his sandwich, thanked Kenzie for the food, and started cleaning up. A few moments later, Kenzie stood up and went back inside.

Eisso gathered up the arrows and put them and the bow in the bin just outside of Ocielle's room. Then he went downstairs, sitting on a stool in the waiting area until Ocielle came out of the 'forbidden room,' as Eisso used to call it (the room itself was where the meat was stored; Eisso never went inside the room for that very reason).

"Me and Kenzie are going to Ylisstol," Eisso declared.

"Okay," Ocielle replied. "I don't care what you do. Just be back before dinner. You have about six hours."

Eisso nodded, standing up and heading back upstairs. The door to his and Kenzie's bedroom was open, so he entered. Kenzie had changed from her gray cleaning gown into a light purple dress with drape-like sleeves, and was now brushing her hair.

"I'm almost done," she said.

"I wanted to feed my rabbit before we left," Eisso said.

Kenzie nodded. Eisso weaved through the small room to get to the little cage beside his bed, where a rabbit sat. Eisso got out some of his pet's food, opened the cage door, and put it in the small food bowl. The water bowl was still full from this morning, so he closed the cage door again. His little rabbit—with a long and embarrassing name from back when Eisso was considered too young to know any better (although he was twelve at the time)—had somehow survived the move from Eisso's old house to Ocielle's shop, although Eisso couldn't play with his pet as often as he wanted to. But daily food and water was all the rabbit needed, so he tried to provide that as much as possible.

"Okay, I'm ready," Kenzie said.

"So am I," Eisso said—although he looked over himself just in case. He picked up his bag—which held his tome, some bandages, and some other random items—and put it over his shoulder, letting Kenzie lead the way outside.


	3. Chapter 2: Mock Battle

Eisso saw plenty of people he knew on the way to the castle. A few of them were his friends—others were just acquaintances. Most of them were agemates.

The castle's doors were always open for visitors, at least during the day. When the two siblings entered, Robin was heading towards them.

"Hello," she said once she was within earshot. "How have you two been?"

"Good," Kenzie said. Eisso nodded in agreement. "And you?"

"Busy," Robin replied. "As you know, in a few days is the festival that marks the defeat of Grima. I'm helping Chrom get everything ready. Morgan, Lucina, and some of the others are training area; you can join them, if you want."

"Thank you," Eisso said. "And I can try to help if you need it."

"Me too," Kenzie offered.

"Thank you for the offer, but I can manage," Robin said. "I've handled worse. You two just have fun, alright?"

Eisso and Kenzie both nodded, and Robin smiled and walked away. Eisso was able to lead Kenzie to the training area where, like Robin said, Morgan, Lucina, Owain, Inigo, Yarne, and Noire seemed to be doing some sort of mock tournament. Only Lucina and Owain were fighting; the other four were sitting on the grass, watching. Morgan had a score board next to him.

"Another point for Lucina!" Morgan called. "That makes five! Who's next up to defeat our undefeated champion?"

"I'm next," Noire said. Owain, seeming defeated, walked off the marked off area, and Noir replaced him, brandishing his bow.

"Learn from example, Noire!" Morgan said. "Learn from other's mistakes; it's a good way to defeat your enemy in practice combat, but in normal combat it's easier to dodge and learn the attack patterns. Either way, you have an advantage provided Lucina doesn't change tactics. Ready? Set! Fight!"

And with that, Lucina and Noire started their mock fight. Noire's initial hesitance to use her bow—even though the arrows wouldn't cause any real harm—reminded Eisso of his training failure earlier that day. The thought made him stop watching and instead turn his attention to Ylisse's tactician-in-training.

"Morgan," Eisso said.

It took a few more moments for Morgan to stop watching the battle. "Eisso! Kenzie! When you'd get here?"

"When Owain lost," Kenzie said.

"Okay," Morgan said. He gestured to either side of him. "Come on, sit! Watch! Mother says it's good practice. So far, Lucina hasn't lost a single duel—I wanted to see how well she would do against Nah, but she couldn't come. I could only round up Owain, Inigo, Noire, and Yarne. It was interesting to see a taguel-against-sword fight, though. You two can join in, if you want."

"Yes," Kenzie said. She sat down beside Morgan, with Eisso taking up his friend's other side. "Definitely and utterly yes. You don't have any wooden daggers, do you?"

"We should," Morgan replied. "What about you, Eisso?"

"I can try," Eisso said. "But of all people, Lucina would know how I fight."

"Mix it up a little," Morgan suggested. "When you're fighting the same person over and over again, you can't use the same tricks—that gives them the advantage, because they know what you'll do next. But if you stayed unpredictable, then that gives you the advantage again. Just try to outsmart her."

Eisso nodded. It didn't completely reassure him, but it worked to an extent, at least.

"Let me try first," Kenzie said. "Then once I get my dignity ruined, you can give it a go."

"You're not helping," Eisso replied. "And sure, losing to Lucina is embarrassing, but it's not too bad. Trust me; Morgan, Lucina, and Owain are the people I always train with, and to this day I've only beaten one of them."

"That was…Owain, wasn't it?" Kenzie asked.

Morgan nodded. "He got too dramatic doing a 'special move,' and lost his focus. Ended up missing the attack; Eisso was able to land the final hit and won." He explained, looking back at Lucina and Noir. It seemed like Noire was winning—or at the very least, trying not to get hit.

"I vaguely remember that," Kenzie said. "I helped Lissa patch him up."

"It was just about my only victory so far," Eisso replied. "I feel like no one that lives in this castle believes in holding back."

"Lucina doesn't, at the very least," Morgan said. "But most of the people who live in this castle—definitely the adults—have been in actual battle. They know what it's like to be in a situation where your opponent won't play fair. They're just trying to prepare us for if we are ever in a similar situation."

In the marked off training area, Lucina and Noire were still fighting. Lucina was winning again, though; the small crowd of watchers were trying to cheer Noire on. Eisso watched, showing his support for the archer by trying his best to help.

(A/N: (1) my excuse for some/most/all of the kids to be in/around Ylisstol is for the defeat-of-Grima festival, (2) just because Owain, Inigo, Noire, and Yarne appeared now does not mean they'll have much of a role later in the story, and (3) wow, uh…Owain you seem to be losing a lot…)


	4. Chapter 3: One Loss, One Gain

Morgan called a tie when Noire had been dodging Lucina for at least twenty minutes without much progress on either side. Noire seemed pleased in the small achievement, and switched spots with Kenzie.

Eisso now watched his older sister throw wooden daggers, pick them up, and try again. Lucina didn't have as much landing hits as she did with the others; while Eisso had received battle training at the castle, Kenzie had more-or-less trained herself. The only thing she had guidance with where staves, and that was because Ocielle didn't have any lying around like she had daggers (out of all the types of weapons, bows and daggers seemed to be the most plentiful at home). Since Kenzie rarely dueled against Lucina, the latter didn't know how she fought, whereas Kenzie knew how Lucina fought by watching Eisso.

While he didn't want his sister to lose, he wanted to give advice to Lucina just to make it a bit more fair. Kenzie's aim wasn't the best, but when she actually hit you—regardless of whether or not the weapon was made for training or actual combat—it hurt like hell. And that wasn't something Eisso put lightly.

Eisso watched, alternating between cheering for Kenzie and cheering for Lucina. Everyone but Noire shouted advice for both of them. From simple comments to full-length rants about the best tactics, they tried to help. After about thirty minutes of fighting, Kenzie withdrew. Despite this, she still seemed in good spirits.

"I'll consider this another tie!" Morgan declared, marking one down for Lucina and Kenzie. "You did great, Kenzie; you recognized your opponent's strength and made a decision based on that. Lucina, you did great too; you scouted your opponent's moves before doing anything rash."

Eisso stood up, and Kenzie took his spot. "I should start training with you guys more often. You're stronger than I thought. Plus, that was fun."

"It can get stressful, though," Eisso replied. He picked up a training tome and walked just outside the marked off area. "Wish me luck." And with that, he entered the training area.

…

He lasted longer than he thought he would. Morgan announced an hour before Lucina had landed a hit on him. However, he messed up a spell and thrust himself on the ground. Lucina's wooden blade was at his throat in an instant.

"One point for Lucina!" Morgan called. "She wins today's tournament, earning extra dessert tonight!"

"I would've tried harder if I knew dessert was the prize," Eisso said, mostly joking. Lucina put down her sword and held out her hand. He took it and she helped him up. "Good game."

"Good game," Lucina agreed. "You surprised me, at first—you're a good sparring partner."

"Thanks," Eisso said. "Me and Kenzie should head home, though; Ocielle gave us until dinner, but I don't want to push our luck."

"You'll be here for the festival?" Morgan asked, walking over.

"Definitely," Eisso replied. "And I'll try to get Ocielle to come, too."

"That would make Mother happy," Morgan said. "But I'm holding you two up. We'll see you at the festival."

Eisso nodded, and Kenzie followed him out of the castle.

About halfway home, Kenzie spoke, "Fighting Lucina felt pretty good. I almost threw one of the daggers at her arm. Almost."

"You need to work on your aim," Eisso said. "Then you can use ranged attacks to your advantage, keep her away so she can't attack and be close enough to retaliate when she does. But you did good, overall."

"You were better than I was," Kenzie replied. "If you hadn't have lost focus, you would've won."

"That seems to be a repeating problem for me," Eisso admitted. "Almost every adult that watches me fight has pointed it out. I'm just not suited for real battle. Or at the very least, not yet. I'll learn how to prevent it, eventually, but I'm not really a battle type."

"You're more of an 'awesome little brother pacifist' type," Kenzie agreed. The compliment made Eisso smile. "But you're still a decent fighter. Some day, we'll have a one-on-one duel, just us two. I bet you'd beat me in a second."

"Don't go downgrading yourself," Eisso said. "You're just as strong as I am. It would be an even match."

"We'll see," Kenzie said. With that, they fell back into silence as they walked home.


	5. Chapter 4: The Festival

The next few days passed without anything exciting happening. Eisso managed to convince Ocielle to come to the festival with them (after about thirty minutes of arguing), so on the day of the festival itself everyone was ready fairly early.

They left after breakfast. Ylisstol was busier than usual—the doors of the palace where open for food, rest, and sometimes ridiculous retellings of the whole Grima ordeal. Some people from Regna Ferox, Plegia, and even a few people from Valm came. Overall, though, it was more casual than anything.

"Remember when we came with Father one year, and we couldn't even get in the gates?" Kenzie said.

"Yes," Eisso said, smiling. "And when we came with Mother…I'll always remember that. It was all four of us…we didn't spend that long here, but it was nice."

Ocielle, who was walking behind the two siblings, grunted. She didn't say anything, but Eisso nonetheless decided to drop the topic. Talking about family memories wasn't something Ocielle enjoyed listening to.

The three of them entered the castle, with possibly hundreds of people gathered by tables, and their conversations were a gentle background noise. Eisso could see that there were musicians in the back, but he guessed that only the people around them would hear it.

"I'm going to avoid every kid here until you're ready to leave," Ocielle said. "Come find me if you want; I'll probably be outside."

Eisso turned to Kenzie as Ocielle walked off. "Do you want to try to find Morgan and Lucina?" He asked.

Kenzie nodded. "They should be in the throne room," she said.

The two headed in that direction, weaving through the people fairly easily. Thanks to years of wandering the castle, Eisso was able to guide his sister to the right room. As they entered, Eisso recognized Robin, Chrom, Lissa, Morgan, Lucina, and Owain. There were a few adults there as well.

"…fate and consequences be damned!" Chrom was saying. He continued on, clearly enjoying himself, retelling the battle against Grima with a few interjections by Robin and Lissa.

Morgan was the first to notice Eisso and Kenzie. He said something to Robin, who replied with, "Yes, you three can go have fun." Then Morgan thanked her, and brought Lucina and Owain over.

"Did you bring Ocielle with you?" Morgan asked once him, Lucina, and Owain were close to Eisso and Kenzie.

"Yeah," Eisso said. "She decided to wander around herself once we got here, though."

"Let me tell Mother," Morgan replied. "I'll be right back." He left the group and returned to the adults.

"How have you two been?" Owain asked. "Everyone was busy with the tournament; we didn't get a chance to talk."

"I've been better," Eisso admitted. "But overall good."

"Same here," Kenzie agreed.

"Was Ocielle rude earlier?" Lucina said. "I've heard…bad things about her. She doesn't seem like the nicest person, at least."

"She just isn't a family person," Kenzie said. "Nothing we aren't used to." She paused for a few moments. "But how about you guys?"

"I've been great," Owain replied. "I like listening to the adults retell their heroics. It's nice to hear them and compare what was told—Uncle Chrom is pretty accurate when he's telling it to adults."

"It's different than the version we grew up with, though," Lucina said. She looked at Eisso and Kenzie. "Have you two ever heard the full story? Father explained the entire ordeal to me, once, years ago."

"I know the basics," Eisso said. "Not all of it. The school I used to go to didn't get every detail. They only said the basic information; the stuff that's common knowledge by now."

"What about you, Kenzie?" Lucina asked.

"I've heard…rumors," Kenzie replied. "Nothing absolute. Telling kids at an orphanage about a deadly demon dragon would only give them nightmares; telling your child about a deadly demon dragon within the year of adopting them would only make them want to leave. Father decided not to bring it up at all."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Lucina said. "We can gather everyone up, and I can have my own retelling. Hopefully they've all arrived by now."

Morgan started coming back over, and Lucina turned to him. "Morgan, can you help me, Owain, Kenzie, and Eisso gather everyone up?" She asked.

"Sure!" Morgan said. "Let's see…there's five of us, so why don't we split up, and bring everyone to the training area? That should be relatively free of people." He looked over at Kenzie. "Would you have any trouble finding your way around the castle?"

"I can manage," Kenzie said. "If worst comes to worst, I can ask."

"Okay," Morgan said. "I'll see you guys at the training area."

And with that, the five of them split up to search for their friends.

(A/N: I'm not sure if I ever publicly established this, but Ocielle is bitter because she grew up as an orphan whereas Kenzie was adopted. She avoids the topic of family for this reason.)


	6. Chapter 5: Assassination Attempt

(A/N: If I missed someone I am eternally sorry but I think I got them all…)

Eisso was able to round up Noire, Nah, and Cynthia. When he brought them from the training area, he saw that Kenzie had brought back Brady, Inigo, and Severa; soon after, Morgan came with Laurent and Yarne. As everyone was settling down, Owain came with Gerome. And last but not least, Lucina came with Kjelle a little while afterward.

"Is everyone ready?" Lucina asked. "Everyone's here?"

"I think so," Eisso said.

"Okay everyone," Lucina said, "I'm going to have my own telling of Grima's defeat. Take a seat, feel free to interject or disagree, but I'll be going off what my father told me."

Thankfully, the training area was large enough to fit everyone comfortably with room to spare. While everyone had to sit on the grass, there was still plenty of room for others to come. Eisso was sure the others felt stupid by sitting around Lucina like children, but he actually liked it. It made him feel a bit younger.

"I'll begin simple," Lucina said. "Many of you know that our parents saved the land, once. Actually, I'm sure all of you do. It was before most of us were born—I'd guess that the only exception would be Kenzie and I. And who, might you ask, did our parents save the world from? Everyone who came to the festival knows the answer: the fell dragon, Grima.

"Father said that the fight against Grima started when they were in Valm, hoping to prevent war. Validar—a Grimleal, a follower of the fell dragon—had the fire emblem. He used it to preform a rite; to bring back his master. Our parents went out to find Naga, the divine dragon.

"My father…Chrom…was tested by Naga, after regaining the fire emblem. He was able to withstand the fires that very well could have killed him. With the fire emblem and the Exalted Falchion, our parents went to face Grima.

"For the first few moments, it didn't look like they would make it. Grima weakened the army. But when their strength returned, they fought valiantly. When given the choice, Robin dealt the final blow. She went missing, for a time—then Father and Aunt Lissa found her. Once they returned to Ylisstol, they decided to start this festival, to mark the end of Grima. Once and for all. No Grimleal have been seen since."

Lucina looked over her crowd of agemates and friends. "In conclusion, our parents did a great deed. They slayed Grima with nothing more than blades, tomes, axes, and lances. It may seem grand, what our parents did over fifteen years ago, but that's how my father put it. And I'm sure that, one day, we will—"

She was cut short by a sudden panic inside the castle. Everyone was alert instantly. Lucina looked like she was trying to reach for a sword that wasn't there. Eisso stood up; Morgan and Kenzie did the same.

"That was…odd," Lucina said. "I'm going to see what the chaos is about."

"I'll come," Eisso offered. If it was anything serious, he didn't want to be sitting around, useless.

"I'm coming too," Morgan said. "Kenzie—or Brady—grab a staff in case anyone is hurt, and come with us."

Kenzie got to a staff first; there was always one tucked away in the corner of the training area, for when mock battles got a bit too rough. She followed Lucina, Eisso, and Morgan wordlessly.

Eisso was sincerely hoping it was just some kid that tried to 'steal' something, and not anything…life-or-death related. He's already seen two dead parents, he definitely didn't want to see one or more dead friends or strangers. But at the very least, there were all sorts of weapons in the training area, so the others could defend themselves if need be.

Everyone inside seemed confused or scared. Lucina tried asking some of them what happened; none of them could give an easy-to-understand answer. That made Eisso's hope fade a little.

They walked towards the chaos, eventually having to fight through a crowd of people going in the opposite direction. Soon enough, though, they found what seemed to be causing the panic.

Chrom, Robin, and Frederick were standing around a near-dead, bleeding body of a dark-haired swordswoman. Lissa was farther away, holding a staff. All four of them looked a bit shaken; Robin especially.

"Mother..?" Morgan asked. He stepped around Eisso, carefully avoiding the blood, and reached Robin. "What happened?"

Frederick was the one who spoke. "This…young lady made an attempt on Robin's life."

Morgan looked even more concerned.

"I'm alright," Robin said. "Just a bit shaken, is all." No one looked very convinced. "Thank you, Frederick. And you too, Chrom. Lissa, can you heal her enough so she can walk? Bring her to one of the empty rooms, and lock her in. Make sure the window is sealed and her weapons are removed." Robin looked over at Lucina, Morgan, Eisso, and Kenzie. "I'm sorry you four had to see this. Can you go ahead and dismiss the guests? All extra food can be distributed later."

Everyone nodded. Kenzie was the first to leave; then Morgan and Lucina, and—after several minutes of staring at the would've-been assassin—Eisso left as well.


	7. Chapter 6: Aftermath

Eisso wasn't quite sure how to tell anyone to leave without panicking them more. He couldn't exactly say there was an assassination attempt—it probably wasn't the first time someone was about to be murdered inside castle grounds, but it probably wouldn't be the last time, either. Instead, he decided to see if the others could help.

When he explained the situation, they all agreed; since they were dismissing the guests to avoid further panic, it would be best if they could get it done fairly quickly. Eisso accompanied Noire for the first few people, quickly explaining that the festival had to be closed early, then they went their separate ways to divide and conquer.

Eisso eventually ran into Ocielle.

"I saw someone nearly dragging a freakin half-dead person," Ocielle said bluntly as soon as she noticed him. "Am I allowed to ask a single question? WHAT THE FREAKIN DAMN HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?!"

"I'm…not comfortable explaining," Eisso replied. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to be explaining.

"Start heading home," Ocielle said. "And be glad it wasn't you. I'll find your sister and send her home, too, but I'm going to get some advertising in so I'll be there after dinner."

"…okay," Eisso said. He started making his way outside. It took him a bit longer, since he still tried to ask everyone to leave. Thankfully they didn't need much convincing after he gave a brief "Robin requested that everyone leave for the time being."

The walk home was…a bit scary, actually. Eisso rarely came to and from the castle without anyone there. Oddly enough, the farther away he got from the castle, the more paranoid he became. About halfway there, he wanted to stop for Kenzie, but decided against it since she could take another route home. At least the streets of Ylisstol weren't completely deserted—a lot of the people were still at the castle.

Just the outside of Ocielle's shop made Eisso prefer the castle. He never did like returning here after school, especially after a bad day. He more-or-less got used to the blood involved—even if he refused to see a lot of it—but he would never be able to get over the fact that something, even if it was animals, were killed here regularly. But it was better than no house.

Eisso went straight to his and Kenzie's room, fed his rabbit, and waited by the window. Kenzie came home and joined Eisso in their room, sitting on her bed.

"That was an...eventful morning," she said. "Did Ocielle curse at you, too?"

"Three times in a single sentence," Eisso replied. "Not directly at me, but still. Do you think it scared her?"

"Definitely," Kenzie said. "I'm pretty sure it scared everyone. If she wasn't the least bit concerned, she would've let us stay longer."

"I'm not even sure if I find that reassuring," Eisso said. "At this point, we're more of a help than a bane. You are, at least." He paused for a few moments. "I wonder if she'll let us go back to the castle again."

"She will," Kenzie said. "She was a friend of Mother, and knew how much it meant to her for you to learn magic. Even if our safety was questionable, Ocielle wouldn't pass up free teaching as opposed to actually paying someone to do it. Until it's confirmed that it isn't safe, she'll let us be."

Eisso nodded, and silence fell over them. Eventually Kenzie stood up.

"I think I'm going to go out to the forest," Kenzie said. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure," Eisso replied. At the very least, it would keep his mind off things. It wasn't always wise to dwell on the question of death.

"Meet me outside," Kenzie said. Eisso nodded, and went outside to wait.

…

It was nice outside, all things considered. Eisso was sure that the festival would probably just be moved outside, if the majority of the people still wanted to celebrate. Near Ocielle's shop was a little forest; Eisso used to play in it all the time when he was younger. Every now and then, he would go back just for old time's sake, or to clear his mind.

Waiting for Kenzie didn't take long. She came out with a bag; Eisso guessed it held snacks for later.

"I left a note for Ocielle," Kenzie said. "As long as we don't come across any hunters, we're good."

Eisso nodded, and followed Kenzie into the forest.


	8. Paralogue 1: Interrogation

(A/N: Paralogues in this story may not be in Eisso's view, such as this one. They'll be written separately from the main story, and thus may not completely match up. There may also be more paralogues than I can put in the story; in that case, they will go at the end as 'Bonuses' instead.

This Paralogue is in Robin's view, shortly after Eisso and Kenzie left the castle.)

Robin was waiting for everyone to leave before she interrogated the assassin, partially because it could involve a lot of yelling, and partially because she still needed to regain herself.

All she needed to know was how the assassin got in, and why they attacked.

All she wanted to know was why she was the one who was attacked. Chrom was right beside her, yet the assassin seemed to target Robin specifically. In most cases, if you wanted to kill someone, you would kill the leader—in turn, you would normally cause chaos, which led to more open spots for further attacks. She's studied the books. She knew war tactics better than anyone—or any form of tactics, really. In this case, the 'leader' would have been Chrom. She was just the tactician, after all. And when you killed her, Morgan seemed more than ready to replace her, so no true damage would have been done.

Robin knew the fine line between needing and wanting something, though. Just because she had questions doesn't mean she needed answers to all of them. Just the important ones. Then she had to decide what to do with an assassin; that could come later, though.

Chrom came up to her, interrupting her thoughts. "Almost everyone has left," he said. "Do you want to do this now or tomorrow?"

"Now," Robin replied. "We need to know who hired her or made her do this, so we can prevent it from happening again."

"And you're fine with interrogating her yourself?" Chrom asked.

"You're coming with me, aren't you?" Robin said. "But yes, I'm fine. She didn't hurt me." She started walking towards where Lissa said she put the assassin. "Lucina can come, too—if she can handle it. She needs to know how to work out a negotiation, just in case."

"She was guarding the door," Chrom said.

"We can ask her on the way in, then."

They fell into silence as they walked towards where the assassin was held.

Like Chrom said, Lucina was standing by the door. She looked…tense. Like she expected another assassin to come out and attack.

"Lucina," Chrom said.

Lucina nearly jumped. "Father," she replied, regaining herself.

"Don't be scared," Chrom said. "If there were more, they would've attacked by now."

"But, Father—" Lucina began.

"There was only one assassin," Chrom said. "That's that."

"…yes," Lucina said.

"Would you like to help us interrogate her?" Robin asked. "Or, at the very least, watch? You can say no."

"I want to join you," Lucina replied. "I might need the experience…for the future."

Robin nodded. "Let's go, then," she said. "But you can always step out if you need to."

"I understand," Lucina said.

Chrom walked over, opened the door, and followed the two girls inside.

The room was mostly bare. It was nothing more than a spare bedroom; there was a few random trinkets here and there, but other than that, there was nothing.

In the corner of the room, staring at the wall, was the assassin. She couldn't be any more than five years older than Lucina.

"We want to ask a few questions," Robin said.

"Okay," the assassin said. She sounded distant. Like she wasn't really there.

"What's your name?" Robin asked.

"Loralis," the assassin said.

"Were you hired by someone?"

"Yes."

This shouldn't be this easy; nonetheless, Robin continued. "Who hired you?"

"The Grimleal of Plegia."

Robin froze, but only for a second. The Grimleal went inactive after Grima was defeated.

She was starting to dread what that meant.

"Why did they hire you?" Robin said.

"I believe in their cause," Loralis replied.

"What…is their cause?" Lucina asked slowly.

"To destroy she who destroyed Grima," Loralis said. "And to kill anyone in my way."

"You're mad," Chrom said. "That's almost a declaration of war."

"It is," Loralis said.


	9. Chapter 7: Adult Meeting

A few days of forest picnics were able to help Eisso almost forget about the day of the festival. Almost.

Eisso was going to go to the castle today; he didn't want to be there when Ocielle actually did her job.

He got ready early, before the sun was up. He tried not to wake up Kenzie, but she was an early riser so soon enough she was she was getting ready for the day as well.

"Do you want to come with me to Ylisstol?" Eisso asked. He was feeding his rabbit while Kenzie was getting out clothes.

"Yes," Kenzie replied. "Let me change and do my chores, though. If you want, you can start going to the castle and I'll catch up. I don't think you should be here once Ocielle opens the shop; I've had to clean up the messes before, and it can get a bit uncomfortable if a lot of people come."

"I'll get some breakfast and start heading to the castle," Eisso said.

Kenzie nodded. "I'll see you there."

…

Ylisstol was busier now, after the festival. Eisso stayed on the roads he knew best.

Lucina and Morgan were sitting outside the castle doors, which were closed for the first time that Eisso could remember.

"Hello," Eisso said.

Morgan looked up before Lucina did. "Eisso!" He said, smiling. "We weren't sure if you were coming today or not. Where's Kenzie?"

"She'll be here in an hour or two," Eisso replied. "She needs to do chores. I just didn't want to spend any more of the day there than I had to." He gestured to the spot beside Morgan. "May I?"

"Sure," Morgan said. Eisso sat down beside him. "The adults are holding a meeting. After everyone left after the festival, Mother interrogated the assassin. I was never told anything more than that. But, presumably, Mother and everyone else's parents are talking about how to act. We aren't allowed inside until they're done."

"So everyone else is here, too?" Eisso asked.

"Not everyone," Morgan said. "Owain, Inigo, and Severa were here, but then they left to get breakfast. Nah came with her mother, but left afterwards. Noire, Brady, Yarne, and Kjelle's parents came, but they themselves never showed up."

"Father asked all of his former army to come," Lucina said quietly. "Right now, they're just catching up on what they've missed—but when Feroxi khans come, they'll start the actual meeting. It would've been done sooner if not for everyone needing to travel."

"How long will the meeting last?" Eisso said.

"Hopefully, it'll be over by lunch," Lucina replied. "But it depends on when the khans come. And what they're discussing." She paused. "I was with them when they interrogated the assassin, for the experience that I might need in the future. And I thought, for the same reason, they would've let me or Morgan in the meeting. But we're not even allowed in the castle. I want to know what they're talking about; yet, at the same time, I don't."

"They'll tell us once the meeting's over," Morgan said. "Don't worry too much about it."

Lucina didn't look too convinced, instead pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

The three of them fell into silence. As Eisso had predicted, Kenzie came about two hours later, and Morgan suggested training.

"We shouldn't go too far," he said, "But I do know of a patch of forest by the castle. Mother would take me there when I was first learning magic. Mother insisted that we carry weapons with us after the assassination attempt, so we won't need to get anything." He looked at Kenzie and Eisso. "What about you two?"

Kenzie patted the bag she had brought. "I brought a tome for Eisso," she said. "I figured he'd forgotten, and since he normally trains here I decided to bring it. I also have a few daggers for myself."

"So we're all set," Morgan said, nodding. He stood up, and so did Lucina and Eisso. "Follow me; it isn't too far."

(A/N: I probably described Lucina's position oddly, but that's the best way I can describe it.)


	10. Chapter 8: War

(A/N: Once again, I THINK I got everyone but I'm not 100% sure.)

They trained until lunch. Morgan was giving them advice, using magic every once in a while; Kenzie attempted to use daggers, but in the end decided that focusing on her staff was best; Eisso was desperately trying not to hurt anyone or anything; and Lucina thrust with her sword like the tree she was aiming at was the root of all her problems.

Eventually they went back into town for lunch. Since two of the four of them lived at the castle, most of the good eating places insisted on free dining. Lucina and Morgan split the cost anyway, and Eisso felt a bit bad (even though he didn't even have any money, neither with him or at home). Kenzie didn't seem to mind it that much.

While they ate, they discussed ways to pass the time. Lucina was hoping that the adults would be done by the time they finished eating, so the four of them decided to head back to the castle before going back to the small forest to train.

Much to Lucina's relief, it seemed, the doors to the castle were now open. She led them inside; Eisso recognized the others' parents, two dark-skinned Feroxi, Chrom, Robin, Frederick, and Lissa. He didn't know everyone's names besides the last four.

When Robin noticed them, she smiled—it held no genuine joy. "There you four are," she said. "The others are in the strategy room."

"Follow me," Morgan said. "I've been there a few times."

The group followed Morgan into a large room. Everyone else was there; Inigo, Severa, Owain, Cynthia, Noire, Nah, Yarne, Brady, Gerome, Kjelle, and Laurent. They must've been out in town.

"Have a seat," Nah said. "Our parents are almost done. Robin said she'd come and explain what they were talking about."

The four of them sat down in the extra chairs. Eisso wasn't quite sure why him and Kenzie needed to be here—besides emotional support for Morgan and Lucina, Eisso wasn't sure he had much reason to be apart of anything they did, honestly. Kenzie would be more useful to everyone, since she could use a staff, but she barely knew anyone here.

It took several moments of tense silence before Robin and Chrom came in.

"Let's get straight to the point," Robin said. "I believe everyone here was at least told of the assassination attempt on the day of the festival. Later that same day, Chrom, Lucina, and I interrogated the assassin. We learned of who hired her, and their intent. And I'm truly sorry to say this, but…we are now at war with the Grimleal, which you know as the followers of Grima."

Everyone either looked concerned or scared. Eisso, personally, was a good balance of both.

"With the exception of Eisso and Kenzie, me and Chrom have brought your parents and some of our old allies to the castle to discuss strategy," Robin continued. "It was decided that, since we're needed here at the castle, you children…you will fight in the war." She was almost crying, by now. "It feels wrong, but it's what must be done to protect everyone. I'm sorry."

Chrom took over speaking on behalf of Robin. "We know you can do this," he said. "You already have a tactician, and several choices for leader. You're all adept in using your weapon of choice. If no one thought you could do this, trust me, we wouldn't have agreed upon it." He gave his best attempt at a reassuring smile, although like Robin he seemed to be battling some doubts. "You have until the end of the day to decide titles and to prepare, and then you'll be filled in on more details based on who you nominate to what position. If necessary, Robin can share recommendations."

Eisso wanted to question him, but Robin and Chrom left before he could figure out how to nicely say "How the hell do you think I'm even remotely ready for battle when I can't even handle animals dying, let alone people."

The room fell into silence. Then Morgan spoke.

"Seeing as how I'm the only one of us with in-depth tactic studies, I think it's safe to assume I'm the tactician he referenced," Morgan said. "I…will apologize now if I make a mistake in the future that costs one or more of your lives."

"You've been training as a tactician for years," Eisso said, trying to encourage and reassure him. "I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thank you," Morgan replied. There was a short pause. "I believe that most of us would be a decent leader, at least." He stood up, walked over to the shelf in the corner of the room, and grabbed a sheet of paper for each of them. "To determine who should be leader, I think we should do a blind poll. Write down their name on the piece of paper, fold it so nobody else sees, and hand it to me." He distributed the paper and something to write with. "Answer with your own opinions. The leader has to be able to handle stress and lead us into battle, as well as provide support when needed. You may vote for yourself, but only if you genuinely think you can possess that position, and you don't just believe you can do it. Since it's a blind poll, no one will know who voted for who. Feel free to step out of the room for a few moments if you fear it's an unpopular decision or you wish for your answer to remain unbiased."

Everyone started writing down their votes. Morgan quietly excused himself and left the room, leaving them in the almost-unbroken quietness of the quill on paper.


	11. Paralogue 2: Eavesdropping

(A/N: Another paralogue! Yay! I know the last one wasn't that long ago, but I really wanted to write this.

This paralogue is in Morgan's view, immediately after chapter 8.)

Morgan left the room as everyone started writing down their votes. Out of all his friends and agemates, you would think that he would be the least likely to snoop around without permission. But he was curious. Robin was obviously distressed, and he wanted to know why—and he wanted to help her, if he could.

He mostly guessed what direction they went in; when he got to the library, he heard voices.

"You've said it yourself, Robin; this is the best way to go about this." That was Chrom.

"I…I know. I thought we were finally done with these tough decisions. I thought we had brought peace to everyone. But I…it still feels like we're sentencing them to their deaths." That one was Robin.

"There isn't any other choice. All of their parents acknowledged the danger and yet the idea met next to no opposition."

"Because of them. When everyone voted on the decision, they decided that since they had done well in war meant that these kids will. But they were raised in war, raised in a world were they knew they had to fight. They aren't the same children, Chrom. You can tell, can't you? And we don't even have any guarantees about Eisso and Kenzie. They could very well die in their first battle. All of them could. They could die, and as tactician it would have been my fault. My own strategic failure, resulting in the massacre of teenagers who've just barely began living."

"Maybe you're overreacting. You've seen them train. I know they aren't the same children that came to defeat Grima. But they fight just as good, or better."

"They were raised in peace, Chrom. Believe it or not, that effects their willingness to fight. And I know for a fact that half of them would protest to killing anyone, enemy or not. They'd break if they were driven to kill anyone; hell, they might even be driven to kill—"

Morgan didn't want to hear the end of her sentence, so he knocked on the door. Hopefully they didn't notice him hovering out of sight. "Mother?"

"To be continued," Robin said quietly. She opened the door, seeming much more cheerful than she sounded moments ago. Morgan can tell she had been crying though—at least for a few moments.

"I just…wanted to pick up some strategy books," Morgan said. "And maybe get advice."

"Of course," Robin replied. "You probably need help with more advanced battle tactics, huh?"

Morgan nodded, and followed Robin throughout the library.

When they were in the back of the library, Morgan spoke again.

"Mother," he began, "Who does the blame go to…if an ally falls in battle? The ally, or the tactician?"

Robin sighed. "It can be evenly balanced between both," she said. "But regardless of the strategy, the tactician is normally held responsible. Or, at the very least, the tactician feels responsible. Trust me, Morgan, I had hoped that you would never need to use the tactics I teach you outside of mock combat. It's hard for a tactician to cope after a particularly tough battle, even if no one is killed. Sometimes just the guilt of making your friends fight is enough for you to feel horrible."

"I take it your speaking out of experience?" Morgan said.

"Unfortunately," Robin replied. "You will see and do many things you will regret on the battlefield. You can gain allies, lose allies…lose yourself. Sometimes, a tactician must sacrifice one unit to save another. It's a hard job, but it must be done." She brushed her fingers along the spine of some books, and pulled two out, handing them to Morgan. "Study up on these. You can take them with you, if you want. But you shouldn't come back here just to return them. It could put yourself and your friends in danger."

"Okay," Morgan said. He took the books, but sat them down so he could hug his mother. "I'll see you tonight, Mother." He pulled away, seriously wanting to cry but refusing to. He picked the books back up again.

"Stay safe, Morgan," Robin said.

"You too, Mother," Morgan replied. And with that, he returned to the others.


	12. Chapter 9: Speech

Morgan returned with two books, setting them aside on the table to collect the pieces of paper.

He quickly went through all of them. "Alright," he said, "A good portion of the votes went to Lucina. Therefor, with very little opposition, Lucina will act as our leader."

Lucina sighed, standing up. "Right. Well, as leader, I renounce my position and give it to Eisso." She looked over at Eisso, obviously confident in her decision. "My reasons include trust, loyalty, and overall friendship. I firmly believe that Eisso can persevere things that I would be unable to, and that he can lead us to a clean, swift victory with few losses."

Eisso wasn't completely sure how he felt about that. He looked over at Morgan, hoping for some sort of reassurance. His friend only replied with a small shrug. Eisso turned to Kenzie, but she was unlikely to protest—she looked reasonably proud actually.

He slowly stood up. "Thank you, Lucina, but…" Eisso trailed off.

"You'll do great," Lucina replied. "Don't worry."

That encouraged him to nod.

On the other side of the room, Cynthia's eyes starting sparkling. "Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!" She said cheerfully. "Every hero needs a leader speech! And a heroic entrance, but we can work on that later."

Eisso was about to protest when the rest of them, slowly but surely, started doing the same. It was both encouraging and threatening.

Now he was wondering if Lucina had predicted this and made him the leader just to avoid saying her own speech (although, in his opinion, she was probably better at public speaking than he was).

From the way everyone was looking at him, he figured that he wouldn't be able to get himself out of this one. "Um," Eisso began. Everyone quieted down almost immediately, except for Cynthia and Morgan, who were still trying to motivate (or scare) him and continuing the chant in whispers. "I know…I know that I'm probably not the first choice. And I know that, just a few hours ago we wouldn't have expected to be told that we needed to fight a war. But in the same faith that Lucina has in me, I promise I will try my best to lead us and guide us towards victory.

"Your parents fought a war. My parents hoped I never would. But nonetheless, our parents desired only peace. Who wouldn't? I can only say this bluntly: we need to win. And we will, even if it takes weeks or months or years. Everyone deserves a little bit of peace…a little bit of hope. We can ensure that, by the time this is over, that there will be all of that and more. For decades, if we can do it right. Perhaps for centuries. Who here would help me protect what the Grimleal threatened?"

Everyone gave their own grunt or shout of approval. Eisso sat back down.

"Good speech," Kenzie whispered. "I think it worked."

"Thanks," Eisso replied.

Morgan looked over all of them. "Now that we have our tactician and leader, it's time to nominate other positions, such as second-in-command, soldier, front-liner, and so on. Write down who you think should be in each position—with the exception of second-in-command, which is entirely up to Eisso—and then hand them to me." He looked over at Eisso. "For the second-in-command, I would advise someone to will be able to take your place in battle, if necessary. Therefor—and I honestly mean no offense by this, as it's just a suggestion—but Kenzie might not be the best option. While her strength outweighs her aim, I think she would do best as a healer rather than a fighter." He turned back to everyone else. "That being said, I know how to form an effective team, and I can provide insight to anyone who's a little lost."

Kenzie didn't look the least bit offended by Morgan's comment; in all honesty, if anything, she looked a bit relieved. Eisso understood the feeling, but desperately wished that he could experience it.

Morgan handed out pieces of paper again, and some things to write with.

Eisso shamelessly wrote down Lucina as his second-in-command, hoping she wouldn't mind. At the very least, she would just be occasionally answering questions or fighting on his behalf. Plus, he needed the advice from someone who was raised to be a leader, one day.

He also backed Morgan's opinion on keeping Kenzie as a healer, if not for her to be doing what she's better at than to keep her safe. He couldn't match most of the others with a position; he could, however, figure out a good position for Owain and Noire since he had watched them battle fairly recently. For the rest of them, he just put "Whatever is best" and hoped it didn't sound too careless.


	13. Chapter 10: Preparations

Lucina seemed to accept her position as second-in-command. Everyone had been divided into one of the six groups: the 'head' group, which consisted of Eisso, Morgan, and Lucina; the flying group, consisting of Cynthia and Gerome; the close-ranged group, consisting of Kjelle, Owain, Inigo, and Severa; the long-ranged group, consisting of Noire and Laurent; the manakeet and taguel group, which consisted of Nah and Yarne; and lastly, the healing group, which consisted of Brady and Kenzie.

Morgan and Eisso were discussing sub-groups and who could go in multiple groups when Robin came in.

"It's just about time for you to start your march," she said. "Do you have everything established?"

"We can settle the rest as we march," Morgan replied.

Robin nodded. "Can everyone leave the room except for the strategist, leader, and—if you have one—second-in-command? The rest of you will be briefed before you leave, but this might take a few hours, so feel free to stock up on materials and such."

Everyone but Eisso, Morgan, and Lucina left. They all sat down at the table.

"First of all," Robin began, "Don't worry about Ocielle, Eisso. I have a letter written and ready to go. I've also sent someone to get you and Kenzie's things. She is…probably not going to agree with our decision. I don't want you two to be in the middle of that mess."

"I understand," Eisso said. Hopefully Ocielle won't kill his rabbit out of spite. Or ruin any of the pictures he had.

Robin put her hands together, nodding. "Now, on to the rest. Which roles do you three act as?"

"I'm the tactician," Morgan said. "Eisso's the leader, and Lucina is second-in-command."

"Good choice," Robin replied. She stood up to get a map, and spread it onto the table, along with a few small figurines. "To cut right to the chase, we locating where the Grimleal are fairly quickly. The assassin, apparently, was never told to keep it hush-hush; she was paid to kill, not to keep secrets. She said that they were mainly in Plegia—but there were other 'factions' outside of that area as well, thus why she specified 'Grimleal of Plegia.' They are violent, and will take a few months to get to. All of the Grimleal are in contact with each other; you're likely to meet opposition fairly quickly.

"It would be best to go as straight as possible, but try to avoid towns. It would be wise to send a small faction to the nearest village or town every once in a while, but don't do it regularly. Innocent people can get hurt. You will be fully funded by both Regna Ferox and Ylisse, so you shouldn't have to worry about funds.

"Training is also essential. You should keep at least two people on watch at any given time. Live in a camp isn't the most desirable, but it's what must be done. We don't want to retaliate violence with violence, since it could cause more trouble; hostages shouldn't be taken, either. If possible, avoiding all trouble will be better for overall morale and strength—but training should never be neglected.

"You will likely come across brigands, thieves, false knights, and others. The fact that there's several royalty and high-class members in your army would only draw more attention. Therefor, make sure that you're with at least one other person. Assigning tent partners would be wise; preferably male-male or female-female to avoid trouble."

"Is that everything?" Eisso asked.

"Just about," Robin replied. "Remember to keep everyone well fed, and try to distribute the chores evenly. Don't make anyone feel favored or neglected—in war, status barely matters between army members. Most importantly, keep everyone safe. It can feel demanding, at times, but it would be worth it."

"Would you be able to keep us updated?" Lucina said. "Letters from family for more information in battle or at home?"

"I can try to establish something," Robin said, "But it would be best if you remained undetected. And sending a messenger would be fruitless if you keep on moving. Hopefully, you'll be less likely to be sought out by the enemy."

Eisso nodded, and looked down at the map. "So, you want us to cut straight through here?"

"Right," Robin said. "Avoiding towns and violence, if you can. Most thieves have a reason for their methods—you just have to find it first. Then it should be fairly easy to—peacefully—get rid of them."

"How much is everyone else being told?" Lucina asked.

"The route, camp live, and heavy emphasis on telling someone if something is wrong," Robin said. "You can explain more to them later, but make sure to only discuss plans in a secure location or with plenty of guards around. Just in case." She looked over the three of them, and stood up. "But that should be all. Lucina, Chrom had a parting gift for you. Morgan, Eisso, you two and Kenzie have some things from me as well. Chrom should be done briefing the others by now, so he'll be in the entrance hall. I'll bring my gifts to you."

"Thank you," Eisso said, standing up. "For the explanation and the gifts."

"It isn't a problem," Robin replied. "I had an old friend who had some—I guess it could be defined as 'theories'—about your mother. And while I don't personally believe in them, reading over them years later helped me think of you and your sister as family. And therefor, I thought it would be nice to send you off with something as well." She started heading towards the door. "But you three better start getting ready; you'll eat dinner and then be off."

(A/N: Btw, Robin just referenced my oneshot 'Guilt And Worry—But Mostly Guilt'. In short, future Morgan liked to believe that Robin's fictional mother Keira was Eisso and Kenzie's mother as well. He never showed it to Robin, which led to her finding the papers and reading them a few years afterwards.)


	14. Chapter 11: Unpleasant Thoughts

Eisso received his present from Robin—which was a new tome—and waited. Everyone—the adults, his agemates, and others—ate dinner together. And despite what Eisso had expected, the room was actually filled with conversation; a relatively happy one, at that. Half of them received their parting gifts before dinner, a few of them received them during, and the rest received their gifts afterwards.

Most of them were waiting in the entrance, and Eisso was trying his best to figure out how to get everyone out of Ylisstol without causing panic. With Morgan's help, he was able to determine that they could just leave in intervals.

Lucina was the last one to join them, grouping up with Eisso, Morgan, and Kenzie. Her old sword was replaced with something that looked…fancier.

Morgan took immediate notice. "That's…that's Falchion, isn't it?" He asked.

Eisso understood Lucina's conflicted expression immediately.

"Yes," Lucina said. She pulled it out, slowly. It looked a bit worn and beaten; could such weapons even do that? Wear down? Eisso wasn't sure. "I will admit, I remembered it differently as a child. I wouldn't have taken it if Father hadn't insisted on it." She put it back in it's sheath with the same careful reverence that she used to take it out. "That aside…is everyone else ready?"

"They should," Eisso said. "We can do a final check, but everyone's said goodbye to their parents. Me and Morgan decided to leave irregularly in small groups; moving out as an entire army might seem concerning."

"Great," Lucina replied. "Can I leave first?" She didn't wait very long for a response, heading towards the entrance soon after.

"She's very content to stay away from everyone today," Kenzie said. "She didn't talk much during dinner, either."

"She's been…distant recently," Morgan replied. "It has something to do with the adults, I know that. She definitely needs some sort of reassurance, but I can't help her if I don't know what the problem is. With everything else going on, it's not a major priority, but as a genuinely concerned friend, it's a bit obnoxious."

"You can't ask her what's wrong?" Kenzie asked.

"She refuses to bring up the topic," Morgan said.

Eisso turned towards where Lucina went. "Do you think I'd have better luck? It feels a little selfish to say this, but it might be bad for overall morale." Plus, he would like to know why she gave him the position of leader yet accepted being second-in-command; even though that was probably much more selfish than army morale.

Morgan nodded. "You can try," he said. "If not, Mother said to be in pairs of two at the lowest. And just because we're at the capital doesn't mean there aren't bandits and thieves."

"I'll see if I can talk to her," Eisso replied. "I'll see you guys in a little bit, when you leave."

With that, he followed his best to predict where Lucina went. There weren't much exists out of town, so at the very least, he could just walk around there.

Luckily, Lucina didn't go far; she was walking quickly, yes, but Eisso was able to catch up easily.

"Lucina," he said, trying his best to sound calm.

"Not the time," Lucina replied quickly. "Everyone can question my decisions later. I just…want to think. By myself. With no one of importance watching."

"I want to talk," Eisso offered.

"Everyone does," Lucina said. "'Lucina, you seem off today. Is everything okay? We're worried, Lucina. You aren't reclusive like this, you never were. Maybe you should talk about it, Lucina. It would make you feel better. Lucina, how about you sit down and tell us what's wrong? We can help, Lucina, we promise. We're fix what's wrong with you, Lucina, don't worry. You can still be the natural leader we remember, Lucina, you just need to be fixed first. So tell us what's wrong, and we can help by making it worse.'"

"That sounds like a lot of self-interpretation and bias," Eisso replied. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're—"

"There is something wrong with me," Lucina said. "There's something wrong with me, something that everyone needs to 'fix,' because I'm not…I…" She stopped walking, and silently muttered, "I'm not…her."

"Her?" Eisso asked.

Lucina looked behind her, towards the castle. "I'm not the Lucina they remember. When they say my name…talk about how I'm a natural leader, fearless, and talented…I'm not that Lucina. I don't know who the woman is that they're talking about, but it's not me." She said quietly. She looked back ahead of her and started walking again.

Eisso followed her from a small distance. She seemed to need her space for a little bit.

(A/N: For the record, no, they were never told of their future versions—would YOU tell your kid that, somewhere, another version of them was running around? With their name, face, clothes, etc.? I feel like the answer is no, unless you want to possibly creep them out.

Also! This story is slowly going from Eisso and Kenzie as the main characters to Eisso and Lucina. Can you tell which two I'm favoring a little? Either way, I'll try to even it out so then Eisso, Kenzie, Morgan, and Lucina ALL get some sort of attention ^_^ I just work better with duos, apparently.)


	15. Chapter 12: Strategies

(A/N: You know how I said that the characters mentioned in the Mock Battle chapter weren't necessarily the ones to be featured later in the story? Well, screw that. I held a number of votes and got about ten people's opinions, but there won't be much highlights besides Eisso, Kenzie, Lucina, and Morgan. Sorry to disappoint, but I can't handle extremely large casts.)

The first few days of camping out were a bit hard. Morgan showed them the most straight-forward route, then the route that they would have to take to avoid towns. In most cases, they had to split up into a few separate groups to avoid trouble with thieves or avoid panic.

Eisso and Kenzie, being among the lesser-known of the group, were the ones to go to the town and restock supplies. Occasionally one of the others would join them, but usually they just went together.

Eisso normally shared his tent with Morgan or Owain, since those were the two that he knew best. Over two weeks away from Ylisstol without much progress, at least they haven't encountered that much violent situations.

The day-to-day life for them was simple; eat breakfast, pack up, travel until sundown, eat dinner, set up, and sleep. It wasn't the largest army, but with everyone having varied skills and drawbacks, packing alone took an hour. Food was eaten quickly and supplies had to be replenished almost daily. Thankfully, though, it wasn't too stressful for anyone. Most of the time, everyone enjoyed themselves—the more optimistic members compared it to camping instead of a grim march. It helped morale.

Eisso was able to sit down with Morgan shortly after dinner, since they were sharing a tent tonight.

"When we actually come across conflict, we need to be prepared," Morgan said. He had laid out some maps that were brought with them from Ylisstol. "The more experienced fighters—such as Lucina, Gerome, Inigo, and Kjelle—should guard the others while the less experienced fighters stay more cautious. We can afford risky strategies, but they should be likely to land us a win. And honestly? As long as everyone can walk away from the battle, I would call that a win. Retreats can also be risky, but if there's too much people injured for Brady and Kenzie to heal then it would be the best option."

"I expected to get at least one thief by now," Eisso admitted. "Our march must've been noticed by someone by now. "But instead, we've been able to get this far fairly easily."

"We're still close to the capital," Morgan replied. "A few more days and we'll be surrounded, I'm sure. Unless the Grimleal are getting rid of them first, following us, to draw us into false security… We have to keep every possibility in mind. A kind gesture could be a ploy to get us to lower our defenses, or it could be genuine. There's also the chance that they WANT us to think that they're trying to trick us, but they're not and they actually have something worse planned that—"

"You're overthinking it," Eisso said, cutting him off. "Just because it's a possibility doesn't mean that they would do it. You said yesterday that they were likely to use tactics that were common in Plegia. Until we get there, though, I'm more worried about bandits. Everyone here can be captured and sold for ransom, or slavery, or worse. Me and Kenzie are the only ones without famous war-hero parents. I know most of you can fight, but I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"I've been trying to get camp set up in tactical locations," Morgan said. "From any direction, we'd be able to predict where thieves come from and how to counteract them. I haven't quite decided how we're avoiding murder, though…we can't very well leave them there. Or send them on their way. And Mother—or anyone, really—would prefer it if we didn't have blood on our hands. Although…I guess it can't be helped… When I study, the most successful tactics seem to be small hit-and-runs or full-out massacres."

"If we need to kill anyone, Grimleal or bandit, I can do the final blow." Eisso said, confident but not entirely sure why. "That way, I'm the only one who has to deal with the guilt of taking a life."

"That can be stressful, though," Morgan replied. "It's ill-advised in most cases. But a few of the others would be willing to kill, if need be. I've already come to terms with it; Lucina might be fine with it as well, but she's still in a brooding mood so it might not be a good time to ask. Cynthia and Yarne might not be willing to, and Brady is currently unable to wield anything but a staff—he's showing interest and progress in axes, though. Gerome, Owain, Nah, and Kjelle might be okay with it as well; I can ask them tomorrow. I'm not sure about everyone else."

Eisso nodded. "Maybe we should get some rest? I was hoping to leave earlier tomorrow."

"Sure," Morgan said. "Good night."

With that, the candles were blown out and they made their way to their separate cots.


	16. Paralogue 3: Talking

(A/N: This one was originally written in script form for a "support" that I don't have the drawing skills to do. Edited to fit in a paralogue instead, it's a bit different. And be warned; it can probably count as shipbait, but since it's just conversation and minor character explanation you can skip it if you want.

This paralogue is in Eisso's view, sometime after Chapter 12 but before Chapter 13.)

Eisso wanted to try to find Lucina. Maybe he could help her. At the very least, her overall solitude and reluctance to talk to anyone was making everyone else demoralized.

He found her outside of camp, swinging her sword, shredding entire logs. She wasn't using Falchion; instead, it was a normal silver sword.

"Lucina," Eisso said.

She nearly jumped, turning towards him with her sword pointed at his heart. It took a few moments before she recognized him and lowered her sword. "Gods. You scared me!"

"S-sorry," Eisso stammered. "I just wanted to talk. You've been acting oddly and it's starting to rub off on everyone else."

"Can't I just have time alone?" Lucina asked. "Can't I just think for a few days? Without interruption?"

"According to Morgan, you've been like this since the festival," Eisso replied. "I don't think it's just one problem. Everyone—or mostly everyone—is genuinely concerned."

"'Genuinely concerned' be damned," Lucina said. "I don't want to talk. Just leave. Me. Alone."

Eisso didn't want to take that as an answer. He sat down on the grass. "I won't move until you tell me what's wrong. All of it."

Lucina raised her sword again and, for a second, looked like she was going to strike him with it, but then sighed and lowered it again. "If I told you, will you leave me alone?"

"Sounds fair," Eisso said.

It took a few moments before Lucina sat down as well. "To put it simply…I'm scared," she was quiet. "I don't want to die. That…makes me a coward, doesn't it? I don't want to die, and I'm scared that I will die. I don't want to be responsible for other's lives, either—I can't…I can't trust myself. Being the leader is just as stressful as being a tactician—I'm impressed with how well Morgan and you have taken it, but I couldn't handle that. I would break. I…I didn't want Falchion either. But Father wouldn't give me a choice."

"Lucina, no one here wants to die," Eisso replied. "That doesn't make you a coward. None of that does."

"That's not what I meant," Lucina said. "I'm scared of dying on the battlefield, for my family or friends or people. That's why I'm a coward. That's why I'm hiding from everyone. We're at war. This is not the time for cowardice. So I pick up my sword and train, so I can get in a battle and win and…hide from everyone else."

"Please, stop hiding," Eisso said. "As a concerned friend, I don't think it's how you should be approaching this problem."

"You don't have a family legacy on your shoulders," Lucina said. "You wouldn't know. You couldn't understand—"

"But I can," Eisso replied. "Or, at least, I think I might be able to. It's not the shame circumstances, but it's somewhat similar. When my mother died, I didn't understand it at first. And then…when she didn't do anything…I felt worse than I had when I was bullied. I wanted her back, I…I even said that I wanted to be dead, too. She was teaching me magic, and I wanted to learn—until I got the letter from Robin, I had felt like I was betraying her wishes. I felt like a failure. But then you and Morgan and Robin and Chrom helped. Why can't I return the favor now?"

Lucina stayed silent for a few moments. "T-thank you, I…feel better now," she said.

"So you'll join me for lunch today?" Eisso asked. "Me, Morgan, and Kenzie?"

She smiled a little. "Sure," Lucina replied. "But I need to pack up my things first…and apologize to some of the others."

"Take your time; lunch may be delayed anyway," Eisso said. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

"Really, thank you for listening," Lucina said. "I promise I'll talk to you if I need it."

"I wouldn't ask for anything else," Eisso replied.


	17. Chapter 13: Sisterly Concern

Unfortunate weather hit a few days later. They were making good progress by spending more time walking, but they had to keep camp up for a while when it started raining. Still, though, it didn't always feel like a grim march—the optimists kept everyone happy, and Lucina was starting to open up again.

Sleeping inside a tent while it was raining felt odd. Eisso couldn't describe it. He put on a coat to shield himself from most of the rain and wandered around the camp.

Eisso went towards the tent where they normally ate. It was larger than they needed, really—with less than twenty people in total, all of the tents were big. It did, however, provide plenty of space for them to be able to make the tent multi-use; it also housed supplies that shouldn't be outside in weather like this, and a lot of the extra weapons.

He was going to head back to his tent when someone else came in. He instantly recognized Kenzie.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked.

"No," she replied. "I heard someone walking around camp and followed them. But at least it was just you." She walked over to him and sat down on the ground. There was a little bit of silence. "You're doing a pretty good job leading everyone, considering your lack of experience. I'm proud."

"There hasn't been much opportunities to me to lead anyone," Eisso said. "I could still be horrible—we just won't know until I screw up."

"Hey, if I'm not allowed to downgrade myself, you aren't allowed to downgrade yourself," Kenzie replied firmly. "I know you're not the best at this, but give yourself some credit. You, Morgan, and Lucina make a pretty good trio. I can't always be there when you need it like I used to, but you know these guys better than I do."

"According to everyone else," Eisso said, "That just makes mistakes hurt more. You can't be distant or they don't trust you; you can't be really close because then, when they get hurt or die, it feels more personal and it can cause you to make the same mistakes. I can't even use magic against almost everything without feeling guilty; how am I supposed to even consider hurting someone else?" Now he was ranting without realizing he had these problems.

"No one said we have to kill anyone," Kenzie pointed out. "Robin recommended not to take anyone's lives. Diplomacy is an option."

"Since when has diplomacy ever worked in the history of Ylisse?" Eisso asked, half rhetorically and half literally.

Nevertheless, Kenzie didn't respond for a little bit. "Still, though. There's other ways to get rid of an enemy that doesn't result from violence."

"Tell me when you figure out what those are," Eisso said quietly. "I would love to hear it."

"…were you just being sarcastic?" Kenzie asked.

"Yes. What of it? I've been sarcastic before," Eisso replied.

"I haven't heard you make a genuinely sarcastic comment in years," Kenzie protested. "And you being sarcastic normally isn't a good sign. Do you…need to talk about it?"

"No," Eisso said. That was a lie, if his previous mini-rant was any indication. "I'm fine, I just…" He couldn't find a way to finish his sentence. "I guess I just need to try to sleep."

Kenzie took a few moments to respond. "Of course," she said. "Good night. I'll…see you in the morning."

Eisso nodded. "Good night," he said. He started walking back to his tent. The rain wasn't coming down as hard now. Maybe they could make some progress tomorrow.

In his tent, trying to fall asleep was still hard. Now his mind stayed firmly placed on childhood memories. He never had friends before Morgan and Lucina…just Kenzie and a hell of a lot of bullies. He could easily remember some of the times that Kenzie got hurt shielding him from a bad blow. Eisso knew she had a scar on her shoulder for the same reason. The bullying stopped when their mother died; Eisso always considered it as a coincidence, because Kenzie used to get extremely scary when she was upset (and still did). The two of them stopped going to school altogether when their father died; Ocielle refused to do anything about it and Robin was—apparently—never told about it.

Ignoring the painful memories and trying to focus on the happier ones, Eisso managed to fall asleep.


	18. Chapter 14: Cloaked Fighter

They were able to make some progress the next day. Around midday, however, the rain picked back up again and they had to stop.

"Let's set up camp," Eisso suggested, turning to the others. Everyone nodded and started getting everything out.

"Watch out!"

Eisso was shoved out of the way by a man wearing a dark cloak with the hood pulled up. Seconds later, an arrow lodged into the man's arm—close to where Eisso's chest would've been.

Everyone else stood there for a few moments until the source of the arrow revealed themselves; several bandits came into view, equipped with swords, axes, lances, and bows.

Morgan was one of the first to react. "We're surrounded," he said.

The man who had pushed Eisso out of the way looked over at him. "Sorry about that. I was in the next town over and I miiiiiiiiiight have accidentally led them to you." His gaze stopped at Morgan for a few moments, then he turned to Lucina and looked at her. In fact, he looked over the entire mini-army—the only ones he didn't pause on was Kenzie and Eisso.

"It doesn't matter," Morgan said. The man didn't seem to be completely listening. "I can't easily see a number, but I don't think these are all of them. We need to break through the back and—"

"That won't work," the man said abruptly, cutting Morgan off. "They look like normal ruffians and thieves right now, but these people are genuine Grimleal. And Grimleal won't go easy on you. You'll be killed in an instant. It would be best to pair up in groups, and try to take them all out. Disable them, round them up, and interrogate them—that would be the best strategy, if you can do it while keeping your distance."

Morgan looked at the man for a few minutes. "…you're right. Everyone, try to do your best to only disarm or disable them."

Everyone started dispersing. Eisso watched Kenzie go to Brady while the others went into groups. Morgan, Lucina, Eisso, and the still-cloaked man fought together, with the latter using magic with one hand and a sword in the other.

It felt like the battle took forever. The rain made it hard to see much farther than the line of enemies in front of them. Metal clashed against metal, short cries of pain from both sides inspired Eisso to work harder to get it done faster.

Eventually, the rain stopped completely and they made more progress. The enemies started retreating, and Kenzie and Brady started tending to everyone's wounds. The Grimleal that they had disarmed were healed as well, but were gagged until Eisso felt ready to interrogate them.

That, however, could wait.

The man still had the arrow in his arm, as well as several other small wounds. Eisso, Lucina, and Morgan sat around him; out of all of them, though, the man had the least serious injuries. Even without any bandages, he would heal in a week or so—the rest of the army, from what Eisso had gathered by looking around him, could've been fatally hurt.

"Was that your first battle?" The man asked. He looked like he was in pain, despite the wounds looking minor.

"Our first real battle," Lucina replied. "But can I ask your name?"

"M…alin. My name is Malin," the man said, holding on to the 'm' a bit longer than needed the first time. "Let me guess—you're Lucina, Morgan, and Eisso? Then the brown-haired girl healing everyone is Kenzie. And that's Owain, Severa, Yarne, Nah, Inigo, Kjelle, Brady, Cynthia, Laurent, Noire, and Gerome." He pointed to everyone as he said their names.

"Can you take down your hood?" Eisso asked.

"Oh, right," Malin said. He took down his hood, and he…actually looked a lot like Morgan, but he couldn't be any older than Robin, if not younger than her. Morgan himself looked mildly unsettled. "So! What brings a bunch of teenagers here? Did you come on a mission or something? Why were a bunch of Grimleal willing to waste men trying to fight you?"

No one readily answered him.

"If you need proof you can trust me," Malin said, "I know Robin personally. We were…close. Then I left the castle a while after Morgan was born. Lucina might remember me, actually." He reached into his bag and pulled out a homemade- and leather-bound book, waving it a little. "I don't remember my childhood, so I write stories about how I imagined they went—they aren't usually happy, but they're the best substitute to memories I have. I wrote a few things based on Robin's childhood too. I'm also well-taught in swords, magic, and tactics."

"I don't think I've heard of you," Morgan said. "Not by name, at least." He looked at Lucina and Eisso. "Either way, I don't think he's lying. He took some of the fatal blows for us and barely bled. At the very least, we can provide shelter."

"Alright," Eisso said.

"He's getting his own food, though," Lucina added. "We don't have enough food to add one more person to the eating list. We have enough to support ourselves and that's it. He can hunt for it or buy it, it doesn't matter as long as he does it himself."

"Perfectly understandable," Malin replied, nodding. He put the book back in his bag. "I swear, you won't regret the decision."

(A/N: As of this chapter, this story officially takes place in it's own AU. Why? Because I'm poking canon waaaaaay too much. That was probably obvious with Lucina's meltdown a few chapters ago.

And for clarification, Malin isn't an OC. He's like Inigo/Laslow, Owain/Odin, and Severa/Selena. A future kid under a different name. And now that I said that, it's probably obvious who it is, right? If not, don't feel dumb. As the writer I assume EVERYTHING in my stories are super obvious /shrugs/)


	19. Chapter 15: Mother

Malin seemed to work harder than necessary. He seemed…out of place. Eisso couldn't quite figure out why; besides the fact that Malin was as old as most of their parents, there wasn't anything obviously disturbing about him.

Everyone took turns making sure Malin wasn't working with the enemy. A month after he joined them, a lot of the others didn't completely trust him. They still weren't even halfway to Plegia—if anything, the suspicion was slowing them down.

Nonetheless, Eisso had offered to watch Malin today. They were walking just ahead of everyone else. And while everyone else stayed relatively silent, Malin decided to do the opposite.

"I wanted to ask you something," Malin said. "It's about your mother."

"We're marching towards war," Eisso replied, hoping that it didn't sound as surprised as he felt by the mention of his mother. "This isn't the time to be asking about me and my family."

"What if I said it was important to me?" Malin asked. "Would you answer my questions then?"

"You're wasting breath, and you could be attracting unwanted attention. Stop prying." Surprise was slowly fading to annoyance as he realized how true his words felt.

"Please?" Malin said, persistent. "I just want to ask a single question! Maybe two! Then I promise I'll stop asking about her."

Eisso sighed. "Fine. What did you want to ask?"

"What was her name?" Malin said. "Was…was it Keira?"

"I was young when she died," Eisso replied, "And therefor I was never told about what her name was. If anyone would know, it would be Kenzie."

"Your father never said it while talking to a friend?"

"I don't know either of my parents' names. Nor do I know my last name."

"Okay. What did she look like?"

"Blonde hair, light skin, brown eyes. Average height for her age, but extremely thin and ill-looking. She might've dyed her hair when it was starting to gray; either that or her hair didn't gray naturally."

"Do you know anything about her life before you were born?"

"No. Like I said earlier, I was young when she died. And Father died before I was deemed old enough to know that sort of stuff. All I know is that she kept it a secret. Before me and Kenzie moved in with Ocielle, I found a lockbox that must've belonged to Mother. I brought it to Ocielle's shop, but I don't know what's inside it since I don't know the combination."

Malin seemed to make mental notes, then said, "One more question: do you know if your mother and father…actually loved each other? Or were you born out of a sort of 'obligation?'"

The question was unexpected, and if they weren't marching to their possible doom, Eisso would've gotten emotional. Instead, he just got frustrated. "I would like to not question why I was born, thank you. What damn project do you have going on that you need that information, anyway?"

"I have theories," Malin replied, sounding overly casual. "Namely, ones that involve your mother and Robin. You see, I—"

"I'm not interested in your conspiracy theories and false information," Eisso said. "You want answers? Feel free to find her damn grave and ask her yourself."

Malin almost looked like he was stunned into silence. One or two of the others overheard the conversation as well; however, they wisely let Eisso backtrack through the small crowd to find Kenzie.

If his sister heard the conversation, she showed no evidence of it. She still looked concerned, though—to be fair, Eisso probably looked like a combination of pathetic and annoyed, so her concern was well-placed at this point.

Eisso, once he got past the initial stage of annoyance, wondered why Malin had questioned how much his parents loved each other, out of all things. Everything else was reasonable. But even if you're making ludicrous theories about people you've never met, that didn't seem important.

While Robin had wanted to learn more about Eisso's mother, she never asked as persistently as Malin. Robin had just…accepted that Eisso didn't know the answers and gave up, whereas Malin was being persistent and annoying. Eisso, however, tried to think of something slightly more cheery.

(A/N: Wow…by now I am shamelessly referencing all of my Ylisse-centered Fire Emblem fics. For context, though, Keira is the name that future Morgan and Robin gave Robin's fictional mother. I may have already explained that, actually XP Anyways, under most circumstances Keira is entirely fictional in-universe. I have no plans to make her an 'actual' character, but it's up to you and your interpretation, honestly. I'm trying to keep details like that vague.)


	20. Paralogue 4: Questionable Relations

(A/N: Another one! Honestly, I'm just writing this to avoid writing Chapter 16 XP But other than that, I've had this dialogue floating around in my head for a little while now.)

This paralogue is in Morgan's view, after Chapter 15.)

Morgan woke up and went out of his way to find Malin. The man was…honestly a bit unsettling for Morgan to spend a lot of time with. A lot of the others seemed to feel the same, but overall Malin had been useful so far. He did as he was told and—for the most part—kept to himself. Or at the very least, that's what Morgan has seen.

Malin was in his tent. If Morgan remembered correctly, he had shared this tent with Inigo. However, Malin was alone and writing something down.

"Malin," Morgan said, entering the tent slowly.

Malin took immediate notice. "Oh! Hello," he said. "While you're here, which one sounds better: 'I offered to fight for their cause,' or 'I had convinced them to let me join their small army'?"

"If you're looking for accuracy, the first would be best." Morgan replied, walking a little closer. "What are you writing? If I'm allowed to ask, that is."

"It's just a journal-of-sorts," Malin said. "Like I said earlier, I don't remember my childhood. When I was still living in Ylisstol, I caught up on my life and started writing regularly after that. The parts I remember and the parts I made up…all on paper, ready to be make into a pretty impressive novel." He gestured to the spot beside him. "You can sit down, if you want. And you don't have to look so uncomfortable."

"…right," Morgan said. A bit reluctantly, he sat down next to Malin. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead," Malin said.

"Why have you only called me by my name once?" Morgan asked. "And why did you hesitate to say your full name when you introduced yourself? And…and why do you look almost exactly like me?"

Malin readjusted himself a little. "That'll be a bit complicated to answer. But the easiest answer? We're more alike than you think. But you'll have to ask Robin for more details. Honestly, I never expected to see you or Lucina after I left the castle…in any form or circumstance. I never thought of a way to explain it. It's a long story." He paused for a few moments. "But with that out of the way…I have something I want to ask you."

"Okay," Morgan replied. He wasn't sure if Malin's answer satisfied him, but since neither of them were going to be leaving the army any time soon, he figured he could try again later.

"It might be personal," Malin said. "I'm just curious. But feel free not to answer." He took a deep breath. "What…what was it like, growing up with both parents and agemates, in a time of peace? Was it boring? Exciting? Hard? Easy? When I write about myself…it's never happy. One of my parents was dead or never home, and the other…she wasn't herself. I can imagine…talking to others…that it was torture. We wouldn't know when our parents would come back. War was upon us and it wasn't going to go away. But then I think of how you must've grown up. We are, quite literally, nearly the same exact person, yet we must've been raised differently and taught different things. So I want to know what it was like. Just…just for curiosity's sake."

"Well," Morgan began, "I was never alone. But in a good way. I always had Lucina and Owain, or the others. Mother introduced me to tactics through toys and sweets, of all things; 'Which direction should you go in if you want to eat a cookie without anyone noticing?' Of course, then Lucina and Owain insisted I got them some too, and Mother had to start hiding them. I was still new at magic when Eisso's mother died, so Mother taught us together. For a little while, it was just us—she wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing. Then she let us train with the others. I learned how to properly swing a sword around by watching Lucina, but it's not my weapon of choice.

"When Eisso and Kenzie's father died, I was one of the main motivation sources. Mother offered to let them stay at the castle—Kenzie declined, though. Sometimes I wonder what it would've been like, seeing them every day. But since then, everything was fine. This probably sounds a bit weird, but most of the time I forget I'm living in the castle. Then this happened." He didn't know how he could continue, so he stopped there.

"Were Eisso and Kenzie a big part of your life so far?" Malin asked.

"They're practically family," Morgan replied.

"…what if they were?"

Morgan looked up at Malin. "You…you lost me. What?"

"I told you I made theories about Robin," Malin said. "And after I wrote about her childhood and learned about a woman that just so happened to look exactly like the woman that was supposedly imaginary, it became a popular theory of mine."

"That's… You really make theories about living people?" Morgan asked. "I mean, I can get Mother if she was helping, but…"

"By the time I did more than a few minor connections, she was dead."

"That's even worse! You don't make crazy theories about people you've never met and try to plug them into someone else's family tree. Does Mother even know you're trying to force family ties on her?"

"She does! Or, at the very least, I left her a copy of most of my work at that time, before I left."

"I am starting to see why no one likes to be around you. But if you'll excuse me, I would like to eat breakfast. Start getting ready to leave."

Morgan left Malin's tent. He was also hoping that someone would let him rant to them. Malin was more than unsettling…now his presence was just unbearable.


	21. Chapter 16: Dinnertime Conversations

Eisso went from annoyed, to questionable, to general confusion and reluctance towards Malin. At first, he was fine—then he started asking questions that Eisso thought had obvious answers. He tried his best, however, to make sure it didn't effect his performance around camp too much.

It was nice to be able and sit down and talk with his friends. Eisso, Kenzie, Morgan, and Lucina had gotten busy doing everything that needed to be done. About two months in the journey, though, and everyone was adjusting fine.

Everyone was eating dinner, and for the first time during their march the four of them were able to just…talk. It wasn't an entirely bright conversation, however.

"If we continue at the rate we've been going in, I don't think we'll make it to Plegia by the end of the year," Morgan was saying. "That's enough time for them to bring the war elsewhere—it's just Ylisse against the Grimleal, sure, but we don't have enough people to fight if they drag all of Plegia down with them. We don't have much choices in reinforcements."

"And we can't spend more time traveling?" Lucina asked.

"That would work for a little while," Eisso began, "But if we make a habit of marching nearly all day, it would slow us down after a while."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "We don't want sleep deprived soldiers," he added. "It would effect their performance on the battlefield as well."

"So there's nothing we can do about this?" Kenzie said. "Half of us are already sleep deprived. The other half sleep in. We can't enforce a schedule?"

"It would take a while for everyone to adjust," Morgan replied. "And even when they do, some people would stay up anyway." He looked over at Lucina. "And, yes, I'm specifically referencing you. You're one of the best fighters, but you're also one of the most notorious all-night trainers. Did you even sleep last night?"

"I did," Lucina said. "At least an hour. At most five."

"And the night before that?" Morgan asked.

"Around three hours," Lucina replied. "I can survive on little to no sleep, Morgan. And—for the most part—I'm training, so shouldn't that make up for it?"

Morgan didn't say anything. He just sighed.

"Can…I join you?"

All four of them looked up. Eisso looked back at his food when he recognized Malin.

"No," Eisso said. "The table's full."

"Aaaaaaare you sure?" Malin asked, almost playfully. "Because it looks like there's enough room for four more people."

"What if those were reserved?" Morgan said.

"Everyone else is already seated and talking," Malin pointed out. "And besides, the only other person who'd join you is Owain. From the way you're all huddled together and not speaking very loudly, this is a leader conversation plus one, so there wouldn't be anyone else you'd invite."

"Damn," Morgan muttered, barely audible. "Of course you're using tactics against us."

"Look," Kenzie said, "At least two of the four of us aren't exactly…comfortable around you. You got into some touchy subjects with Eisso and…well, I'm not sure what Morgan dislikes about you—"

"He's a creep," Morgan replied. "That is the simplest way to put it."

"—but your company is just a bit weird for some of us," Kenzie finished.

Eisso couldn't tell if it was annoying or reasonable that Malin didn't look the least bit offended.

"So you don't want me sitting with you?" Malin confirmed.

"We do not," Eisso said.

"Fine," Malin said. "But you're setting a bad example." He shrugged and walked away.

"Does he…really annoy you two that much?" Lucina asked, looking at Morgan and Eisso.

"He writes theories about living people!" Morgan said. "And then protests by saying that 'they weren't alive when he got seriously invested in the theory.' How could I NOT be annoyed by him?"

"Calm down," Lucina said. "One man should not be worth screaming."

"I personally agree with Lucina," Kenzie added.

Eisso stayed silent. He didn't want to list the reasons why he didn't like Malin. He just continued eating his meal.


	22. Chapter 17: Apology

After being shoved away, Malin seemed to try harder to make up for it. And after a few days of silence from Eisso and Morgan, Malin apparently decided that it was the perfect time to stalk the two.

Eisso and Morgan were leading the march, as per usual. Lucina was a few paces behind them and the rest of the small army followed.

Relative peace and quiet was once again broken when Malin came up beside Eisso.

"Uh…hey," Malin said. "Look, I know you two don't like me very much—"

"That's probably an understatement," Morgan said, cutting him off.

Malin grunted, but continued, "But I just wanted to apologize. I haven't talked to this much people in over a decade; I forgot that what I choose to spend my time doing may not be…accepted by everyone. And I'm sorry if I offended you or made you uncomfortable or anything else."

"You knew my mother was a touchy subject, yet you continued to ask me things I didn't know," Eisso replied. "Topping it off with a question about my parents' relationship just made it worse. I will admit that I may have overreacted a little bit, but I still don't like you."

"Morgan," Malin said. Morgan looked even more uncomfortable. "You're good with strategies—I know you are. What would you have to gain by outright ignoring me? What would you have to lose?"

"First off," Morgan began, "Don't sound so desperate; it's not helping you case. Second, if you were an enemy—"

"Which I swear I'm not." Malin said defensively.

"—it would be best for us to not get attached," Morgan continued firmly. "As for what we could lose, well…that's a bit of a list."

"See?" Malin said. "You have more to lose when you're avoiding me; a possible ally, a possible friend, trust of your current allies and friends, a second opinion on strategic matters, a guide, and so on. I know my way around a sword and I can use magic; I can fight. I've fought a war before, and I know what I'm doing. Please, let's just get this…mess settled so then we can move on."

Eisso sighed. "Your persistence has been noted, but it's getting annoying," he said. "You were lucky that I even talked to you about my mother. A lot of other people would've been met with silence the moment they asked about her. But I can't let it go."

"And I don't appreciate how you talk about some people," Morgan said. "You counteracted my opposition to writing about living people by saying she was dead. You keep on saying that you're old friends with Mother, but I can't fully believe you."

"That's just uncharacteristic," Malin replied.

"You don't know me well enough to decide when I'm being 'uncharacteristic,'" Morgan said. "And don't start that 'we're the same person' nonsense. Until I hear it from Mother, you're just a stranger who insists on being a persistent idiot."

"Okay, I get it, you hate me," Malin said. "But my points still stand. So, please, say you forgive me and you can go back to hating me after we win this damn war against the damned Grimleal, okay?"

"Fine," Eisso said. "But don't ask about things that I don't know."

"And maybe try to stop writing theories about currently living or once living people without their permission?" Morgan offered. "If you can agree to that…temporary truce."

"I agree to your terms," Malin said. He cheered up significantly.

They fell into silence. Eisso wished that Malin would fade back into the crowd, but he didn't. He just continued walking my Eisso's side.

"Hey, Morgan?" Eisso said, admittedly quieter than he had intended.

"Yes?" Morgan replied.

"Do you think we should check in with Robin?" Eisso asked. "She could help clear up the Malin confusion, and she might be able to provide some advice on how to move a little quicker."

"We could try," Morgan said, "But I'm not sure if she'd get it unless we send the courier ourselves. Not a lot of people would be willing to go to Ylisstol, and while we have plenty of funds to support our cause, we need to save it for buying rations so we don't starve."

"Who do you think would be able to get there and back quickly?" Eisso said.

"Cynthia or Gerome," Morgan replied. "We could send them together, and give them a note to bring to Mother. Then they could either record her reply or ask her to write her down to we could read it with little to no confusion."

Eisso nodded. The two of them continued discussing the topic until it was time to set up camp for the night.


	23. Chapter 18: Parallel Falchion

After some discussion and open vote, Cynthia and Gerome were sent back to Ylisstol with letters for almost everyone's parents.

They decided to wait for the two to return before continuing. A lot of them were on edge—they were in a thin forest, about an hour's walk away from the nearest town, but it was weird staying in one place after moving around constantly.

Lucina had taken it upon herself to help the others train. Eisso was one of the only people not participating, and that was because he just…didn't feel like it. He knew he should—to set a good example, at least—but he didn't want to.

At first it was one-on-one duels against someone and Lucina, with the same rules at the mock tournaments back at the castle. Then Malin joined them, and encouraged them to try to take him down in a combined effort. It was fascinating to watch, honestly.

"Don't be afraid that you'll kill me," Malin said. "Treat me as you would an enemy. I can handle a few scratches."

The statement made half of them fight harder. They all had weapons capable of drawing blood—Lucina was even fighting with Falchion. It looked almost impossible to actually hit Malin, though; they were genuinely trying their best, but Eisso noticed that Malin was always dodging or counterattacking.

Most of the day was spent training. Lucina was the first to withdraw, and the rest followed.

Eisso, Lucina, and Malin were the only three left in the training area, since everyone else decided to eat food.

"Good fighting," Malin said. "Reminds me of an old friend."

"You have a lot of 'old friends,'" Eisso observed.

Malin shrugged. "That's what happens when you fight in a war and seclude yourself for over a decade afterwards," he said. He gestured to the spot beside Lucina. "May I?"

"Sure," Lucina replied. Malin nodded and sat down beside her. "You were great, too. I swear, you're invincible. We were training for hours and you don't have so much as a scratch on you."

"You guys were still holding back," Malin said. "But I wanted to ask about your sword."

"Falchion?" Lucina asked.

"Yup," Malin replied. "How'd you get it?"

"My father gave it to me before we left," Lucina explained. "It's…not something I would find difficult to guess."

"I know, I know," Malin said. "Oddly enough, though…I think that's the Parallel Falchion as opposed to the real thing."

"There's only one Falchion," Eisso pointed out. "Even I know that much."

"Okay," Malin began, "Long story short, my previously mentioned old friend wielded a Falchion that everyone just called the Parallel Falchion to avoid confusion. She left immediately after the war—I'm not sure where she went. And I thought she brought her Falchion with her, but the Falchion Chrom wields looks…slightly less worn than this. She must've left it behind; either for you or for Chrom."

"That doesn't make sense," Lucina said. "This isn't a 'theory,' is it?"

"I'm being one hundred percent honest," Malin replied. "But like all else, I don't know how to explain the whole thing."

"Would it really be that much more difficult to understand than anything else we know?" Eisso asked, a bit skeptical.

"It could probably give you an existential crisis," Malin said casually. "But I've never been known to have excellent explanation skills."

"Like Father's any better!" Lucina said. "He could barely tell me to take Falchion; I doubt he would be able to explain whatever mythical nonsense happened during the war."

"Robin would be able to explain, though," Malin protested. He stood up and stretched. "But that aside, I'm going to get something to eat. I'll see you there?"

"Right," Eisso said.

Malin left, but Lucina stopped Eisso from following him.

Eisso looked over at Lucina. "What is it?"

"You know how, before we left…when you followed me out into town…and I sort of just…screamed my insecurities at you?" Lucina asked.

"That's not how I remember it, but yes," Eisso replied.

"Do you think that Malin's old friend was that other Lucina everyone refers to?" Lucina said, not looking at him. "I mean…why else would Father give me her Falchion, if not to make me more like…more like her?"

Eisso couldn't think of a reasonable response. He couldn't say "It's possible" because then she might lapse back into reclusiveness and avoid everyone. But saying "You're just imagining it" might have the same result. So he decided on the next best thing: "I'm not sure."

Lucina seemed to understand, nodding and standing up. "Well, let's get some food."

(A/N: Yay! My subtle hint turned into a confirmed fact! But the reason why Parallel Falchion looks more dented/worn than normal Falchion is because it…just makes sense to me for some reason. Other than to give the two some differences.)


	24. Paralogue 5: Talking, Part 2

(A/N: Alright! So, like Paralogue 3: Talking, this may seem shipbaity, and since it won't be anything too important like some of the other Paralogues, you can skip this if you want.

This Paralogue is in Lucina's view, soon after Chapter 18.)

Lucina ate her meal silently. She shouldn't think of it too much…but she had almost forgotten about her fears of a second Lucina until Malin had brought up her Falchion belonging to 'an old friend.' There wasn't much evidence to it…but it made Lucina start doubting herself again.

She decided to talk to Eisso about it. She was aware of the effect her mood had on the army, and she wasn't any good at hiding her doubts. She didn't want to be any more of a nuisance than she already was.

Since Eisso finished eating before she did, Lucina ended up making her way to his tent.

She stood in front of it for a few moments, a part of her wanting to just…walk away and deal with her problems herself. But she tried to do that earlier in the campaign and that didn't get her anywhere. Lucina sighed, and said, "Eisso? I…want to talk. I-if you're willing to listen."

"Give me a few moments," Eisso replied. Lucina heard a bit of shuffling around in the tent before Eisso opened up the entrance flap. "Come in."

Lucina nodded, entering the tent slowly. Eisso sat down on his cot, and Lucina sat on the ground beside it.

"This is about earlier?" Eisso asked.

"Yes…" Lucina replied, trailing off. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

Eisso seemed to pick up on her uncertainty. "There's nothing wrong with it! It just saves the trouble of explaining everything again. Tell me what's on your mind."

Lucina sighed. "It's just… I don't know, I…" she couldn't even figure out what to say. Gods, why was she always fine talking to others until the conversation was about herself? Barely audible, she muttered, "Why am I such a damn disgrace?"

Apparently Eisso heard that. "Lucina! Don't say that. You know that's not true."

"You don't know that I'm not, either!" Lucina cried. "Father either thinks I'm someone else or hopes I'll become someone else. I can't handle immense stress. I'm a coward. I constantly lie to everyone. I'm supposed to be some other girl that doesn't have these problems—and if she does, she just puts on a brave face and ignores them."

"That's not true," Eisso insisted. "No one's perfect. Just because you have flaws doesn't mean you're a disgrace. Honestly, what did this even stem from? Before this war, I never would have guessed you were thinking of this stuff—and it's probably something that an adult would be able to help with more."

He brought up a good question, actually. And the answer to it was…complicated. Therefor, Lucina decided not to answer that specific statement. "I…don't want to bring this up with Father," Lucina said.

"And yet you come to me relatively easily?" Eisso asked.

"You're…easy to approach," Lucina replied slowly. She didn't want to say it out loud, but she also noted that explaining your problems to your parents could be harder than explaining your problems to friends. She knew better than to bring up parental relations with Eisso.

Eisso looked…a bit annoyed, actually. "Listen," he said, "You're not worthless. You're fine just the way you are. You don't need to be the other Lucina. All you need to do is…wield your Falchion and don't question yourself as much."

Lucina didn't respond right away. She looked up towards the ceiling of the tent. "I didn't mean to drag you into my insecurity hell," she said. "Honestly, I was going to just go over what Malin talked about…and then I couldn't figure out how to say it. But I'll leave so you can get some rest."

"No, Lucina. I want to help," Eisso replied. Lucina stood up to leave, but he grabbed her arm. She could easily pull away, but something in her mind stopped her. "How can I help you?"

"I'll tell you when I figure that out for myself," Lucina said. "But for right now…I just want to be alone for a little while."

It looked like Eisso wanted to protest, but he let her go. "Don't ever be afraid to talk to me, Lucina. We're friends, and that's what friends do. And if the war ends and you still have these doubts about yourself, then I'll see if Robin would still let me stay at the castle."

"…alright," Lucina said. She gave Eisso a weak smile before leaving.


	25. Chapter 19: Reading Letters

(A/N: Okay, iPad updates suck. I don't have a personal computer so I have to do everything on my iPad. I let it update last night and it screwed everything up. I might not update the story as much as a result, but I will still try to update it every day. And hopefully the format looks good this time.)

Eisso had to admit, Malin's input in strategic matters made everything a bit easier. Eisso and Morgan had more time to themselves with a third person giving sound advice. They had a route planned for when Cynthia and Gerome came back, and plenty of supplies to make the trip.

He had decided to spend the day with Kenzie. They didn't do much more than sit around and talk, but in all honesty, that's all he wanted to do.

Around midday, almost a week after they left, Cynthia and Gerome came with a handful of letters. They handed them out to everyone; to his surprise, Cynthia handed him two (one was from Robin, and the other was for both him and Kenzie, from Ocielle).

"Thank you," Eisso said.

"No problem!" Cynthia replied, smiling. "And the trip was fun too!" She left to hand out the rest of the letters.

Kenzie leaned over and took the letter from Ocielle. "Would you like to imagine how mad she is at us before I open this?"

She asked.

"No," Eisso said. He tucked the letter from Robin in his pocket to look over with Morgan and Lucina later. "But I'm pretty sure she wants to kill us."

"Us or Robin," Kenzie agreed. "She probably won't let us stay at the shop after this, either."

"We'll figure it out," Eisso replied.

Kenzie nodded, and began to open the letter. "'Damn you both. So help me if one of you dies, I'm not paying for your funeral. And you're lucky I'm not killing that pet rabbit of yours out of spite.'" She read it in relative monotone. She closed the letter again. "Honestly I was expecting more cursing and threats."

"I feel a bit bad for Robin," Eisso said. "She was the one who had to explain everything."

"She let us leave quickly for that reason," Kenzie replied. "And Ocielle had a grudge against me before this—if either of us are kicked out, it would be me. You would be fine; a little uncomfortable, sure, but otherwise fine."

They fell into silence. Eventually, though, Eisso stood up.

"I should bring Robin's letter to Lucina and Morgan," he said. "Then we can continue marching tomorrow."

"I'll be here," Kenzie replied.

Eisso nodded and walked around camp. He found Morgan in the dining tent.

Morgan looked up from what he was doing and smiled. "Hey Eisso," he said. "I assume you got the letter from Mother?"

"Yeah," Eisso replied. "Where's Lucina?"

Morgan closed his book and put it in his bag. "I think she went to her tent. Gerome handed her a letter and she left."

"Well, let's go find her so we can get moving quicker," Eisso said. Morgan nodded, stood up, and together they made their way to Lucina's tent.

The entrance flap was open, but Lucina herself was looking over a letter.

"You should probably light more than one candle if you want to read it better," Morgan observed.

Lucina looked at them. "R-right," she replied. She used the flame from her candle to light some of the lamps around the tent. "Sorry. I just got distracted. Apparently Father was worried after how I left the castle—I didn't really say goodbye, and he watched me leave. He just…poorly expressed his concern."

"Well, I got the letter from Robin," Eisso said. "We can figure this out now and make up for lost time tomorrow, maybe even start moving again today."

Lucina nodded, inviting them to sit down. Eisso brought out the letter, broke the seal, and opened it. He proceeded to hand it to Morgan.

"Can you not read or something?" Morgan asked jokingly.

"I can," Eisso said, "But unless you want to wait five minutes for me to match a word to pronunciation then it would be best for you to read it."

Morgan looked like he still wanted to tease him, but read the letter anyway. "'I will be completely honest, when I saw Cynthia and Gerome come to the castle I had assumed the worst. But I'm glad you're okay. The situation hasn't been ideal back here at the castle, but it's nothing we can't handle.

As for your question about Malin, I would need to see him to be sure. But I do think that I know him. For now, continue to keep a close eye on him—but please don't treat him rudely. And concerning your recommended course, I would just have to say to keep up what you're doing now; besides a few sightings in villages, I have no clue where you are right now. And while that's mildly concerning, I would like to hope that the same can be said for the Grimleal.

I'm proud of you guys. All of you. In your first real battle, it seemed like you did great—no fatal casualties or problems. When you get to Plegia and start fighting more, I know you'll do great. Don't worry about it, okay? I'll try my best to establish an easier way of communicating so I can check up on your progress soon. Regards, Robin.'"  
"Okay," Eisso said. "Let's start planning."


	26. Chapter 20: Ambush In Plegia

The next few months were spent traveling. They didn't encounter much fighting—it was fine, at first, but as they got closer to Plegia it started to get unsettling. Thankfully, though, they were able to make more progress than they had been.

Six months after they first set out, they reached Plegia. Unfortunately, they were greeted by the third group of Grimleal they had encountered since they left Ylisstol.

Morgan was the first to notice. "Eisso," he said.

"Hm?" Eisso followed Morgan's gaze, but couldn't see anyone.

And then he heard armored soldiers marching. He knew they weren't allies, either—everyone had gone silent. But the ominous sound still continued.

"Everyone, get out your weapons," Eisso said. "It might be another band of Grimleal. Our primary objective is to tire them out and move forward."

"Yarne and Nah should take the front, followed by Owain, Severa, Inigo, Kjelle, Gerome, Cynthia, Lucina, Malin, and I. Eisso, Laurent, Noire, Brady, and Kenzie can take the back and provide support at a distance." Morgan said, firm and confident. Everyone tried their best to get into position.

"Can I…stay in the back?" Lucina asked quietly.

Morgan looked over at Eisso, who nodded. While she would be better in the front with the others, where she could provide more support, Eisso knew that she didn't want to be any closer to the battle than she had to be. So with Eisso's nod, Morgan looked back at Lucina. "Okay. Try to protect them. You're still one of the strongest people we have."

"Thank you," Lucina said. "And I'll try."

Eisso led Lucina to the back row. Or, rather, the back group—there wasn't much organization. This was their third real battle; they're second was a few months ago, and had close to the same results as their first. Hopefully this one will be the same way.

The group waited, tense and anxious.

"H-how much are there?" Noire asked.

From beside Eisso, Kenzie started muttering numbers under her breath. "I can easily see forty, but there might be more."

Noire let out a small whimper. Lucina didn't look too sure of their victory, either. But Eisso refused to even consider this being the end. He refused to think, even for a second, that this was where they died.

"If you want," Eisso said, turning to Noire and Lucina, "Then you can leave the fighting to me and Laurent. And there's only enemies coming from Plegia—we can always retreat and think of a new plan."

"I'll fight," Lucina said. "I won't run away or stay behind." Noire nodded.

"Are you sure?" Eisso asked, directing the question mainly towards Lucina.

"Yes," Lucina replied.

Eisso nodded. He would've tried to smile, but he was afraid it would look forced. "Let's show them that we won't let them hurt us!"

Everyone, even those from the other groups, heard and cheered. Then they turned to their opponents, and took a defensive stance.

And the battle began. While they stayed close-knit at first, eventually they dispersed. Lucina pushed through with extreme force. Grimleal soldiers kept coming, but a few rallying cries made everyone fight harder.

Eisso was trying to keep up with Lucina. She seemed to have a goal in mind; and as he continued to follow her, he realized she was heading for the heart of the enemy battalion.

He was several paces behind her. But suddenly…she froze. Eisso rushed to catch up with her, just barely shoving her out of the way to block her from an attack.

"Lucina! What are you—"

Eisso followed her gaze and cut himself off abruptly. Mumbling orders to soldiers was the same assassin from the castle. When did she escape? How did she get ahead of them?

The assassin noticed Eisso and Lucina. "…hello, children," she said quietly. She was holding a bow, and aimed it at them. "And goodbye."

This time, Lucina dragged Eisso down to avoid the arrow.

"Get Morgan," Eisso said. "I can handle her."

"Liar," Lucina muttered. She pulled him out of the way of another arrow. "She'll kill you."

"And she'll kill both of us if you don't get us some sort of support," Eisso replied. "Go before I force you to. I'll keep her distracted."

Lucina hesitated, but after the assassin launched a third arrow, she left. Eisso tried his best to keep the assassin's aim—and most of the enemies attacks—off her.


	27. Chapter 21: A Brush With Death

The assassin kept on attacking. It didn't take long for her to run out of arrows; but then she pulled out a sword. It caught Eisso off guard. She walked up closer to him.

"You're in my way," she said firmly. She raised her sword.

"And you're in mine," Eisso replied. He made sure his own weapon was ready. "If you and your troops retreat, I promise we won't hurt you."

"Half of us are already dead," the assassin murmured. "That was the orders. There's no use for nearly-dead men. It would be an honor…to die and join our master."

Eisso couldn't even respond. The assassin got closer.

"And now…you will die and join your family."

She moved quickly, raking her sword along his entire arm. He dropped his tome, and she cut his shoulder. Everything started fading to black as he heard familiar voices call his name…

…

The room was dim. The candles were the only source of light in the small tent. He was hurt; he knew that. But he also knew that he couldn't just…sit still. Not like this.

"H-hold still, Eisso…I can't tend to your wounds if you keep squirming!"

His sister was scolding him. He knew that much. In truth…the whole world seemed to be getting darker. "Eisso, stop moving! Do you want to die?"

"Of…of course not…" Eisso muttered. "But…I can't sit here."

"It'll only take a few moments," Kenzie assured him.

Eisso nodded—even that small movement hurt. Kenzie started dressing his wounds.

"You can't be so reckless," Kenzie said. "Ocielle would never let me live it down if…if we lost you."

"Well," Eisso said, "I'm not dead yet. So…yay?"

"Don't be foolish! You're an idiot sometimes! You almost died, Eisso. Do I need to spell it out for you?"

Kenzie said, getting louder.

"N-no," Eisso replied. "Just…don't let everyone hear you yelling at me."

"Sometimes you deserve to have a bad rumor or two about you," Kenzie said. She stepped back, Eisso's entire arm covered in bandages. They were almost red already. "But you're done. Please be more careful. I can't lose my brother."

"I won't die until I have your permission," Eisso promised.

Kenzie nodded, seeming satisfied. "Just come back to me if you start to feel dizzy. And don't get too close to anyone, okay?"

"Sure," Eisso said. He was feeling better already. He just…had to pretend that his arm wasn't bleeding. He picked up a tome, and went back to the battlefield.

Suffice to say, it was pure chaos. He could easily pick out his friends, though. Hopefully they could last a little bit longer.

Eisso found Morgan first. "How are we doing?" He asked.

Morgan turned to face him. "Eisso! I'm glad to see that you're okay." He examined Eisso, but his eyes lingered at the latter's bandaged, bloody arm. "Er, mostly okay." He paused for a few moments. "But to answer your question, well…it could be better. But we're almost done."

"No one else is hurt?" Eisso asked.

"No one else is hurt," Morgan confirmed. "I haven't seen anything more than a few scratches. Nothing fatal. Nothing that can't be patched up quickly."

"Good," Eisso said. At least his friends were doing alright. "Where do you need me?"

Morgan surveyed the battlefield. "I was going to help Lucina once you came out. Can you keep Kenzie out of harm's way? There's not that much enemies here, but it wouldn't take much to—"

"I can defend my sister," Eisso replied. "You go help Lucina."

Morgan gave a quick, firm nod and left Eisso alone with the battlefield in front of him and a small array of tents behind him.

Every now and then, Eisso would use his magic to finish off an enemy that got too close. Everyone was protecting the makeshift camp. Whatever enemies made it past that line were weak enough for Eisso to stop without much effort.

Within the hour, Eisso didn't see a single enemy standing. He watched for a few moments as everyone started coming to the main healer's tent, then he turned behind him to see Kenzie coming out.  
"It's over?" She asked.

"This battle is," Eisso said. "But…the war isn't. Not yet."

"It will end soon," Kenzie replied softly. "And then we'll be able to laugh about all of this."

"…yeah," Eisso said. He really hoped that she was right.


	28. Chapter 22: Worry

Once everyone was looked over, Eisso led them deeper into Plegia. He didn't let them stop until Morgan found a place for them to set up camp, which would put them at an advantage if they were attacked again.

Eisso didn't talk to anyone much. He knew they would misinterpret it as shock or fear. But in truth, he just wasn't up for it.

His original dinner plans were to sit by himself in the corner. And then Kenzie, Lucina, Morgan, and Malin came over.

"Can we join you?" Malin asked.

Eisso seriously wanted to decline. But he decided against it. "Sure," He said. They all sat down around him, and silence fell for a little while.

"How's your arm?" Kenzie asked. "It was the best I could do; most of the staffs are broken and we haven't had the time to replace them."

"It stopped bleeding," Eisso replied. "It just…really hurts now. But I'll be fine." He looked over at Morgan and Lucina. "Did the assassin get killed, too, or did she escape?"

"Loralis—the assassin—left with about a dozen men," Lucina said. "The rest of them are dead."

"That isn't our fault," Eisso said. "Assuming what she said was true, they were ordered to take their own lives if they came too close to death."

"That's horrible," Kenzie said quietly. "I mean, I get it, they're a bloodthirsty cult, but still. How can so many people come to terms with death like that?"

"They weren't counting on us fighting back to strongly," Malin replied. "And even if they were, they must've been in a rush to meet us. I wouldn't put it past them if they raided villages and equipped them with weapons." He paused for a few moments. "But then again, my opinions on the Grimleal are highly biased."

"Well, that aside, did Loralis say anything else before she left?" Eisso asked. "Or does anyone have any theories about how she got ahead of us?"

"I didn't hear anything," Morgan replied. "But I think she left the castle a few days after we did. That's probably what Mother meant by how the situation wasn't 'ideal' back home; Loralis escaped on her own or someone got in to break her out. And since they were just keeping her in a spare room, it would've been that hard. But Mother didn't mention it in detail because she didn't want us to worry."

"I'd rather worry and know than be five percent less worried and clueless," Lucina admitted. "I mean…it's nice to know that she cares, but I, at least, would like to know when something like that happened."  
"All of us except for Malin are in our teens," Morgan argued. "And I can't think of a single person in this army who would take that lightly."

Lucina didn't make a comeback, instead continuing eat her dinner, and after a few moments, the others did too.

Eisso finished eating first, quietly excusing himself and going to his tent. He sat down and began to take off his bandages, but stopped once the gentle touch made his entire arm start hurting again. He laid down on his cot, ready to fall asleep, but a quiet voice stopped him.

"I want to talk for a little bit." It was Lucina. He could barely hear her; either he was already half asleep or she was talking really quietly.

"Come in," Eisso said.

Lucina came into the tent, holding some bandages. "I figured I could help redress your wound," she explained. "I know that you're a bit finicky around blood."

"By now, it's less of the blood and more of the pain," Eisso replied. "But I can ask Kenzie to do it later; you don't have to."

"No, no. This way I can do more than talking. Sit up, please; and don't look at your arm once I have it unwrapped."

Eisso nodded, sitting up and readjusting himself so Lucina could sit beside him. He kept his eyes shut.  
"I'm sorry," Lucina said quietly. She took off a section of bandage—they both winced. "I shouldn't have left you. We were told to stay in pairs of two, but I went to get Morgan, leaving you with Loralis. I should've stayed; I would've stayed if I knew she could use a sword and bow in equal skill."

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," Eisso replied. "Don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm just glad it wasn't worse."

"It's definitely going to scar," Lucina said. She finished peeling off the old bandages and started putting on the new ones. "But…I guess on the bright side, you'll be able to brag about it once this is over. Or at least have proof."

Eisso laughed—not a lot, though. "That's one way to look at it," he said.


	29. Chapter 23: Just An Empty Threat

Lucina left after she finished re-bandaged Eisso's arm, and he expected to have dreams full of blood, violence, and chaos.

Instead, he slept dreamlessly. The only bit of dream he could remember was a quiet, understanding whisper, but when he woke up, he couldn't recall what was said.

Eisso was awake earlier than everyone else. The four on guard were switching out, and the sun would be up in about thirty minutes. He figured that he could start making breakfast for everyone so they could start leaving quicker.

Kenzie came in soon after he was done.

"It's been a while since I've had breakfast just after it was made," she said.

"Don't think I did this all for you; I just want to get going." Eisso replied, sitting down. Kenzie sat down beside him after getting a little bit of food. "I'm hoping that we can end the war in the next month. And the confidence boost should be enough to get us home in half the time it took us to get here—if we're lucky, we can get rides back and make the trip even shorter. I can't understand how anyone can handle this for years."

"Some people like drawn-out wars," Kenzie replied. "Others aren't as fortunate as us. I don't know much about this stuff, but we've had a pretty good campaign so far. We've fought and won three times, with few casualties. The odds are one to five—maybe even one to ten. But we're still winning. At least we can be glad that we're the only ones fighting this war; I don't even think that a lot of people know it's a problem."

Eisso nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments, then Eisso spoke up.

"Do you think Mother was an ex-Grimleal like Malin thinks?" He asked, a bit quieter than he intended.  
"No," Kenzie replied. "Because Malin also thinks she ran away and was hiding. But a woman in hiding from her old family and friends wouldn't start a new family and put them in danger. Mother was cautious, yes, but she wasn't stupid. Just because she never shared personal details about herself doesn't mean she has a dark past." She paused for a few moments. "Why do you ask?"

"Loralis mentioned it," Eisso said. "She didn't mention Mother directly, but she knew that…that Mother and Father were both dead. 'You will die and join your family.' That's what she said."

"Empty threats," Kenzie said. "Mother and Father didn't have public funerals; they were buried in the forest, and it took months before anyone realized they were dead. Robin only knew because she overheard Father talking to a friend about Mother's death, and she learned of Father's death through us and Ocielle. Loralis wouldn't know, especially if she's always been in Plegia. The news wouldn't have gotten outside of Ylisstol, let alone across the border."

"…right," Eisso replied. "So you're saying she was just trying to scare me?"

"Like how Ocielle says things to purposely make you falter," Kenzie agreed. "If she truly knew, then she would've said 'parents' instead of 'family,' since you still have me—and, if you count friends, almost everyone else here."

"That might make sense. Just a little bit."

"Just a little bit?"

"Not that much, but it isn't complete nonsense."

"Would you like me to explain it in more detail?"

"No, no…I'm fine."

"Suit yourself."

Kenzie continued to eat her breakfast, but Eisso stood up.

"I'm going to get everyone else here so we can start marching sooner," Eisso said.

"Alright," Kenzie replied. "I'll start packing up when I finish eating."

"Sounds good," Eisso said, offering a smile. Kenzie returned it, and he waved goodbye-for-now and left.

…

They were ready an hour later. He had to admit, everyone was pretty good at packing up and setting up camp after they figured out how. The longest part was waiting for everyone to eat—and that was only because most of them talked instead of eating. But nonetheless, they were able to leave fairly quickly.


	30. Chapter 24: A Battle Won

They marched on until sundown. Morgan and Malin guided them to a nice area where they had a number of advantages against any attackers. Just as they finished setting up the camp, Eisso noticed the sound of…chanting? A quick look around him confirmed that it was none of the others; but it also confirmed what he feared.

Hundreds of Grimleal soldiers, maybe more. In front of them, leading them, was a heavily armored man. He looked like he had already won, savoring a victory that was not yet gained. They were a ways away, yes…but they were moving quickly.

Everyone had already taken notice and were gathering their weapons, taking up a primarily defensive position. Eisso didn't even need to say anything.

Malin walked up to Eisso's side, handing him a tome. "That's the Grimleal general," he said, gesturing to the man leading the opposing army.

"How do you know that?" Eisso asked, looking at Malin.

"I was in Plegia for a while. Attended some of the underground Grimleal rallies. I was noticed, and I started making my way back to Ylisstol—that's why they were following me when I met you guys. I was hoping to make it before they actually went into action. As you can tell, that didn't happen," Malin explained. "But I am glad I met up with you. Even if you hated me for a while."

"I still do, sometimes," Eisso admitted. "But if you can help protect the others, you'll have my trust."  
Malin nodded firmly. "And, a little piece of advice: a little rallying speech never hurt anyone."

"Everyone wants a speech, huh?"

"It could boost morale, if nothing else. Just try it."

And then he left. Eisso wasn't sure if he wanted to be mildly annoyed or not, but he turned to everyone else nonetheless.

After a deep breath, he tried to encourage them, "The Grimleal general is leading them. This could be the last battle of the war. If we can take down the general, we can scatter and spare everyone else. We may have to take lives. We may lose some. But after this—once we claim a victory, defeating the general and thus ending the war—we can go home. We're close to victory. The odds may be against us, but we can do this. I know we can. So get rid of all the doubts in your mind; focus on what you'll be coming home to, who you'll be able to see once we make the trip back. Use that image of your family and friends to push through their defenses and fight onward. When the general is defeated, the other Grimleal should start retreating—if not, drive them back. Let's win this battle, and end the war!"

He was a bit surprised when it seemed to work; the more enthusiastic of the bunch gave shouts of agreement, and almost everyone seemed to be in better spirits. It was contagious among the small group.

Morgan arranged everyone into groups to effectively dispatch the enemies as quick as possible. Malin joined Eisso again, along with Kjelle and Nah. The four of them were going to go straight for the general—that was the plan, at least.

The Grimleal got closer, their chanting fading into silence as their general got closer.

"I am General Dyrsun of the Plegian Grimleal," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "If you do not want to fight, devout yourselves to the Fell Dragon and join our ranks."

"We will fight," Eisso replied. He sounded more confident than he felt. "You threatened  
the peace when you declared war. People have died because of a personal rivalry. In one way or another, this war will end today."

"Very well," Dyrsun said. He turned to his troops. "Grimleal! Today is the day we right a wrong; today is the day we will avenge Grima!"

He looked back at Eisso, lifting his lance. And all his soldiers moved forward.

Eisso and his group pushed onward. Dyrsun was lost in a sea of half-armored people; but he couldn't have backed up. The soldiers were moving in the opposite direction. They were trying to corner Eisso and the others; but everyone was fighting back.

They made good progress. Between Nah and Malin, most of their opponents were down in moments. They must have had the same orders as last time; as soon as their wounds looked even remotely fatal, they took their own lives.

Eisso tried not to watch.

Eisso, Malin, Kjelle, and Nah made decent progress. They found Dyrsun fairly quickly; he was simply watching the battle play out, ready to deploy more units. Eisso was able to get in a single attack before he noticed.

Dyrsun smiled. Everyone but Malin made attempts to break his armor. He was attacking quickly, fiercely, but he seemed to have trouble landing or dodging hits. They used this to their advantage, driving him down to his knees. The closest Grimleal were already starting to falter.

Eisso prepared to deal the final blow, but hesitated.

"Scared?" Dyrsun asked, his voice taunting but weak. "Is the little boy scared? Well? Is he?"

"He is not," Eisso replied. And then he did it. He closed his eyes, and didn't open them until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's get back to the others. Once the Grimleal realize their leader is dead, they'll retreat," Malin said.

"Good job."

And the four of them made their way back. There was no need to fight. Those closest to Dyrsun were leaving, and others looked to see why and they left too. By the time Eisso could see his friends, there were almost no Grimleal in sight.

"The war is over," Eisso told them. "We can stay here for the night and start traveling back to Ylisstol in the morning."

Everyone cheered. It was as good of a time to celebrate than any. Just the thought of going home made Eisso feel rewarded.

(A/N: And with that, this story is over. But it's not done yet! Besides this, there will be a few bonuses that will cover reunions, explanations, and maybe even a future-story teaser. Once those are written and posted, this story will be officially fully-written. I can honestly say that I'm proud of this fanfic. It may not last, but for now I would like to think this is one of my better ones.  
Also! I have some bonus art on my DeviantArt—my username there is Pink-Rose06. So far, these bonuses only include character info sheets for Eisso, Kenzie, and Lucina, but I hope to do more in the future. Feel free to check those out; some of them might have backstory bits not mentioned in the story!)


	31. Bonus: Dyrsun's Journal

(A/N: First-person view written in the context of something Dyrsun wrote before his defeat. It might not be completely accurate because I'm technically writing this before he's introduced in the actual story.)

I have a feeling my time in this world is coming to a close. My time as an underground leader has long passed. What I am now is a man of respect, stature, and power. How I could tell tales of all the places I've seen in search of my divided brethren!

We were set apart from each other for too long. It's been something close to fifteen years. They killed our god—SHE killed our god. HER god. The whole reason she existed was to bring Grima into this world and reign supreme over us, not to divide us forever with the Fell Dragon dead.

That is, at least, what Validar told me. I've never met his daughter—'Robin'—personally. And unless I'm driving my lance into her heart, watching the life fade from her eyes as she gives some pitiful cry, I don't plan to.

If I were to say that I don't have regrets, it would be a lie. My time among my soldiers may be almost over, but I believe I should have this written in paper, forever. Even if it's fate is to be burned at the hands of the Ylissians. Foul beasts.

I would like to confess, the road I have chosen is not easy. At this point, the entire continent thinks the Grimleal are just rubbish, idiots who think they're almighty. Ylisse hates us. Regna Ferox hates us. A majority of Plegia hates us. The only true Grimleal left are the ones I have under my command—some hundred soldiers, men and women alike. The rest of the Grimleal are Naga converts that are too pathetic to get rid of their title, instead deciding to tainting the meaning of 'Grimleal.' We are the children of Grima, the Fell Dragon, first and foremost. Anyone who says otherwise are fools that deserve whatever grim fate awaits them.

But that brings me to my opponents. This may seem like pointless rambling, I know. But it will be useful should I fall, I promise.

The people I'm fighting against…they're children. When I sent Loralis to send the message of war, I had expected an army. Thousands of soldiers armed to the teeth, ready to die for their kingdom. But instead, the exalt sends children? The eldest isn't even twenty years old—I've seen pictures of her, and I listen to the gossip that floats through the barracks. And the leader is one of the youngest. Surely they knew it would be a suicide mission? Something that they couldn't possibly do, not with barely twenty people in their army.

I do find it interesting, however, that they were accompanied by the man we were watching. Sources said that this…'Malin' had close ties to Robin. Familial relations—some rumors even claimed that they were mother and son. And while that must have been stretched from it's original telling, everything else held true. He was in Plegia for several years, asking for a woman named Keira. He wasn't very cautious in his search. But eventually he became harder to track. Once he joined forces with those brats, he was almost invisible to us. If I do survive this next battle, I would like to meet this man personally. I would like to ask him why Keira is so important to him.

But judging by the way he took down all those Grimleal that were watching him, I doubt I'd stand long enough to speak a word. I respect him, in a way—yes, he's a nuisance at present time by giving the children offensive and defensive support, but he can kill five men with a single blow if he so desired. If only he was on our side.

Overall, the enemy's strategies confounded me and my men. They defeated every battalion I sent their way—even when Loralis was the commander. I would say that we lost great men, but in truth, they couldn't have been that grand if they allowed themselves to be near the brink of death. It's pitiful. Grima deserves to see his children live victorious, rather than die shamefully.

In the end, we're imperfect, even compared to the god reverently referred to as the Fell Dragon. All of humanity fell; and Grima guided them. And even though we're fell beasts, we still deny the fact that we are who we are because of Grima? Every follower of every other god disgust me.

Those who oppose Grima deserve punishment. And though my body protests, my mind knows what I must do. I will fight, and win this war like I had planned. At any cost, I will not let my hard work be in vain.


	32. Bonus: Reunion

(A/N: This one is in Robin's view. The rest is explained in the bonus.)

When Cynthia and Gerome came back a second time, Robin was hoping for good news. And her hopes were proved true; the two of them came saying that the war was over. She expected some sort of retaliation. A part of her didn't want to believe anything else.

But three months after Cynthia and Gerome delivered the news, all of the kids returned. She was glad to know they were all okay.

Robin didn't see anyone new, though. Nor did she see a man that resembled Morgan. She asked Morgan about it—he said that Malin departed from their group before they got to Ylisstol. She would have tried asking for more information, but she didn't want to sound desperate.

A week after everyone returned, she went to the castle library. She didn't have any particular goal. She just wanted to wander.

Sometime just before dinner, Frederick came in.

"I'll be down to eat in a little while," Robin said, placing her finger on the page to mark her spot and looking up at him. "I just need to finish this page."

"Someone wishes to see you," Frederick replied.

"Send them in and I'll get to them in a moment." Robin looked back at her book and continued reading. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frederick bow, stepping aside to let someone else in, and after a quiet request by the visitor, he left, closing the door behind him.

Robin finished the page, put down a piece of paper to mark her place, and closed the book.  
And when she looked up…she saw Morgan. The Morgan she fought alongside with. The Morgan that helped her make a childhood for herself. The Morgan who left years ago with next to no warning.

He smiled a bit shyly. "Hello, Mother. It's…been a while."

"That's an understatement," Robin replied. She didn't mean to sound bitter—but that's how it came out. "You're Malin?"

"Yeah," he said. "I would've stayed Morgan, but that would've confused Little Morgan once he grew up."

"You left before Morgan could even remember you," Robin pointed out. "Do you know how worried I was? You just…left. Took all your things and gone by the morning. A week before you left you were talking about how you couldn't leave. And then you give me a letter saying that you couldn't stay? I was worried that you had gone off to investigate Keira."

"I had," Malin admitted. "Well, not at first. I knew that it would be confusing for Little Morgan if I stayed. I'm a bit surprised that Lucina doesn't remember me. Not sure about Owain."

"Did you, or did you not, go chasing after a woman who doesn't exist?" Robin asked.

"Sort of," Malin replied. "I went to Plegia for a while, looked at the records. I was looking into the Grimleal, too. I attended one of their rally ceremonies. I was going to come back to warn you, I swear. But then I met Little Morgan and Eisso and Kenzie and the others, realized I was late, and just hoped you were okay." He paused, looking at her. "And now you probably hate me."

Robin stood up. "I don't hate you. I'm just doing what any mother would do and worried about you. I thought you died. And I was blaming myself for it." She walked over to him. "I still think of myself as your mother. And it concerned me when you left, when I thought that you always wanted to stay. We would have thought of a way to reduce confusion. You, your father, and I."

"…right," Malin said. He started going through his bag. "Oh, and the reason why I was so late is because I was working on this." He pulled out a well-bound book. It looked homemade. He handed it to Robin, and she took it.

"Can I ask what it is?" Robin said.

"It's how I think my childhood played out," Malin replied. "My memories haven't returned and I don't think they ever will. So I spent some of my time writing it. When I learned something new—which was rare because I haven't seen any of the others since we defeated Grima—I would change it. What you now hold is the bound and spellchecked final product. It isn't very cheery, though."

"I wouldn't expect it to be," Robin said. She sat it on the desk. "I'll read it as soon as I'm able."

"Thanks," Malin said. "Oh, and…Mother?"

"Yes?" Robin asked.

"Would it be okay…if I stayed?" Malin said. "I mean, I wouldn't be able to call you Mother and you wouldn't be able to call me Morgan, but—"

"I'm not sure why you have to ask," Robin admitted. "There's still plenty of rooms in the castle; plenty of space to spread out. Everyone would love to have you back. And I don't think the kids could have had just a nonfatal campaign without you. It would take some getting used to, but if you want to stay, no one will stop you."

Malin smiled, considerably more cheerful now. "Thank you, really. I'll try to make up for all the worrying I caused."

"Simply agreeing to stay at the castle was enough," Robin replied. She walked over to the door and opened it. "Now, let's get some dinner before your father sends someone to bring us there.

Malin nodded and followed her out. It might take a bit of explaining for everyone else, but Robin was glad that he was back.

(A/N: This is the last update for this story. I hope you all enjoyed it, and thank you for reading.)


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